“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15

How do you preface your time with God? How do you prepare your heart to be changed?

I have always prayed with my children, that God will open our minds to understand what we read and teach us how it applies to our lives. We close our time of study by sharing what stood out to each one of us. Sometimes the kids definitely notice the meaningful things, and sometimes they grab onto silly details, but either way they are making the effort to notice something new. 🙂

Understanding God’s Word and knowing how it applies to our lives does not guarantee that our life choices will be right. It’s easy to be at home, surrounded by people who believe the same things we do, and not encounter temptation. My family has an uncommon opportunity, living at a Christian camp in a missional setting where almost everyone we encounter is here to teach God’s word or learn God’s word, and we get to hear over and over how the Holy Spirit touches lives… right here in front of us. It is a miraculous way to live, and I pray we never take it for granted… it is kind of like living on top of the mountain.

You know the mountain top account: Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on the mountain where he was transformed so that they saw his glory, and he talked with Moses and Elijah. Peter said he could just pitch tents for them to all stay there, except that the whole conversation was about how Jesus was about to stretch himself out on a cross for all of us before returning to the Father. (Luke 9:28-36) They went back down the mountain, and then walking the plan out was harder than talking about how it was all going to end.

That’s what it is like for us. We spend time in God’s word and understand how it is all supposed to pan out in the end, but when we come down from the mountain, we have to walk it out.

When you get up from reading your Bible and you step into the real world, how to you ensure that you live out what you know?

If we wait until we are faced with temptation to make a decision, chances are we will fail. I promise you, the enemy knows where your foundation is weak.

One of my older daughters has played free puzzles and word games on her phone, and she has talked about advertisements that are built into the platform. They introduce perverse scenarios and then give the player three options… one right option, a wrong option, and an even more wrong option. Players may think that it doesn’t matter what they choose because it’s not real life, but the science says that when you make these decisions now, real scenarios or not, it creates pathways in your brain that pre-dispose you to make wrong choices in the future. By taking the guilt and shame out of a wrong response now, players who typically have a well guided conscience are less sensitive to its promptings when exposed to similar situations in the future. The more we are exposed to sinful examples, the less wrong they feel.

I’ve started doing something new with my children. When we read what the Bible says about right and wrong, we talk about it to make sure they understand it, but then I ask them if they are willing to make a decision–a commitment to obey, right then and there, before they encounter circumstances that would test them. We come up with example scenarios that would not be uncommon in our world, and I ask them how they could or should respond. I want them to practice thinking right, practice being sensitive to Holy Spirit’s promptings, and practice their commitment now. (And BTW, no more free games on the phone. We don’t want ads to fill our minds with unwanted images. 😉 )

The moment of decision should not be left for when temptation comes. When Jesus talked with Moses and Elijah on the mountain, he had already committed to dying for us. He didn’t decide at the last minute. In his flesh, he asked the Father if there was another way, but his commitment was, “Your will be done.”

THE moment of decision is now, not later.

PS. Caught this one practicing her praise when she thought no one was looking… ignore the half unpacked room, please.

Photo credits:

This Way or That Way photo by Micha from Pixabay

Photo of Jesus’ transfiguration by freebibleimages.org