This is a BUSY time of year. There are the year-end deadlines and reports to wrap up. And there is the holiday busy-ness – office parties, cards to get out, tree and house decorating, travel plans and gatherings with relatives. Are the kids catching a busy faith or a faith in Christ through this season?
In this second week of Advent, the candle lit represents the FAITH Christians have in the miracle conception and birth of the Lord Jesus in Bethlehem. Born of the virgin Mary, the Savior came into the world. Mary did not understand how it would be possible but her response to Gabriel reflected a devout faith in God – “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38). Mary had caught the faith her parents lived through their teaching and example.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she exclaimed with a loud cry: “Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed! How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what He has spoken to her!” – Luke 1:41-45. There were actually two miracle births within six months of each other. One was by ‘natural’ conception, yet Elizabeth had been baron and both she and her husband Zacharias were “well along in years.” When an angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias and told him that his wife would bear him a son, he responded with his busy-in-religion faith and doubt ensued. The angel struck him dumb until his son, John, was born. The second miracle birth was by immaculate conception. Mary’s faith and trust in the Lord God was affirmed when she visited her cousin Elizabeth. Similarly, whatever faith a dad has is affirmed as he sees his kids mature. Whether dad reflects his busy-in-the-world faith, busy-in-religion faith or a trust in the Christ faith, children will catch what he has. The charge for every dad is to make sure that the faith he has is the faith he wants the kids to catch.
Tips to convey a faith you want the kids to catch:
- Lead a family discussion time around busy faith with candid vulnerability;
- Read Hebrews, chapter 11 as a family and discuss the “reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen”;
- Share Reverend Tony Evans’ unique definition, “Faith is acting like something is so even when it is not so in order that it might be so simply because God said so.”;
- Be vulnerable with a friend this week by discussing the faith you reflect day-to-day.
Prayer guide: Father, thank You for the miracle births – one that prepared the way for the Lord and One that established the Way to You. I confess I have conveyed mixed messages with a busy faith during the holidays and have caused disconnect from the true Reason for this season. Forgive me. Help me convey the faith my kids need to see. Grant me strength to lead my family in a faith and trust in You as we celebrate the miracle birth of the Christ-child. That is the dad You call me to be, and that is the dad my kids need to see. Amen.
A faithful father conveys the faith he wants his kids to catch.
