If a spider were to wrap you in one strand of his web, you could break it easily. A spider’s web is extremely flexible so that it can stretch up to five times their normal length without breaking. Spider web is as strong as a medium-grade steel but it is 1/6 as dense. What that means is that if you took a strand of spider web and wrapped one strand around the earth, it would only weigh 18 oz. But if I wrapped you with that single strand of spider web, you probably could not break it.
The same thing is true of common sewing thread. I can break one strand; but if I were wrapped in enough strands of this thread, I could not break it. Given enough thread, you could not break it.
Solomon wrote “A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart” (Ecc. 4:12).
Just like the spider’s web or sewing thread, there are some things we can do that will wrap a thread around our child’s heart, binding them to Christ, and if we wrap enough threads – even though each thread is not unbreakable by itself – we can make it very hard for Satan to break our sons’ and daughters’ hearts away from their Savior.
We begin with our text in Colossians 3:18-21…
STRAND #1 – BE A CHRISTIAN YOURSELF:
You can leave your children with a strong material inheritance – but, it will be spent and it will be used. You can leave your children with a strong inheritance in likes and dislikes – such as sports or recreation. But the legacy that will last is the spiritual legacy and you can’t leave a good spiritual legacy, you can’t lead your children, where you are not going yourself. This type of legacy does not get spent or used up; it will, in fact, grow stronger and stronger with each passing day and each passing year.
Before we get to the strands mentioned in our specific text, we have to begin by stressing the importance of dads being Christians, taking their own spiritual life seriously. If you want your children to go to heaven, the single most important thing you can do is to be a Christian yourself and take your own Christian walk seriously.
STRAND #2 – LOVE YOUR CHILDREN’S MOM – 3:19:
Verse 18 begins by pointing out that Dads are the leaders of their home. We did not volunteer nor were we elected. We were appointed by the God of heaven to be the leaders of our home. When you chose to propose to your girlfriend and she said yes, you implicitly told the God of heaven that you were accepting the responsibility to be her leader and guide her in honoring the God of heaven.
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In the home, then, the first item of business is to love your children’s mom. You teach your children how to be kind, compassionate, loving human beings by how your treat their mom. Look back up at the Christian virtues mentioned in verses 12-14 and learn how to treat your children’s mom.
STRAND #3 – TEACH YOUR CHLDREN TO OBEY – 3:20:
Children are going to be saved in heaven throughout all eternity or lost in hell forever and ever based on whether they obey God or not. Their response to God will be based largely on how you teach them to respect authority, beginning with your own.
STRAND #4 – DO NOT EXASPERATE YOUR CHILDREN – 3:21:
The word translated “exasperate” in the NASV or “provoke” in the ESV means “to cause someone to feel resentment, to make someone bitter.”
Do not challenge your children beyond their ability to perform. Don’t be guilty of having low expectations but don’t go to the other extreme and have such high expectations that your children feel that they can never reach them. Pray to God for wisdom. This is another area where you would be wise to listen to your wife. You and your wife can balance one another.
Allow your children to be people in their own right. Allow them to go their own way in their career choices, etc. Give them the tools they need to thrive and then watch what God can do through them.
As arrows are in the hand of a might man, so are children of one’s youth. Leave them a lasting legacy (Psalm 127:4-5). Dads, your child’s journey to heaven starts with you.
Leave a lasting, spiritual legacy with your children. They’ll thank you for it, throughout eternity.
–Paul Holland
