WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Think about and pray for the parents of any ‘troubled’ teenagers you might know. Calling for help If you watch TV you will have heard stories of children from ‘good’ families who have ‘messed up’ or ‘gone bad.’ Perhaps they are disobedient, ill-mannered, aggressive, even violent or criminal. In desperation the parents call out for help. Whether it’s Supernanny, Dr Phil or Brat Camp, someone from outside the family is called upon to provide a solution; but how did it come to this? Refusing to change When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, God went with them. They took possession of the land and ‘remained faithful to the LORD’ (v 7). Just one generation later, ‘the Israelites stopped worshipping the LORD and worshipped the idols of Baal’ (v 11). They turned from obedience to God and violated his covenant. When disciplined they refused to change (v 19). How did it come to this? God’s compassion God knew that once his people reached the Promised Land it would be a challenge for them to remain true, so he instructed them to remember all that he had done for them, and systematically teach it to their children (see for example, Exodus 12:24–27). Every generation has to take some degree of responsibility for the next – but ultimately God’s compassion (v 18) is our greatest hope. Respond: ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ Pray for families in your community and thank God that he is greater than Supernanny: he has the power to heal and reconcile even the most stubborn of us! http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-08-06