A New Year Yatsar

 

Welcome to yet another New Year. Are you planning New Year resolutions? Many of us make resolutions to do this and that finding several weeks later that our resolve is gone.

This year how about making a yatsar (yaw-tsar')? Yatsar is the Hebrew word meaning to determine or purpose. In the literal sense though, it means to mould into form, much as a potter squeezes clay into usable shapes. Instead of us determining what we will do this year, let us commit to allowing God, the Great Potter, to shape our families.

A year ago my husband and I committed to be Christ-like parents, but this year we want to surrender our children to Him for His shaping. The difference in these commitments lies in who will do the shaping -- Christ Vs us. We know what we would like to do with the children God has given us, but this year we want what He wants. We recognize our children are the work of God's hands, not ours. Therefore, their future lies in His hands, not ours. God knows what will happen 1, 5, and 50 years from now. He knows which seeds of faith need planting. He knows what experiences will shape their hearts toward obedience. This responsibility we can not bear because we do not know the future.

You learn what He wants when you ask Christ to be your teacher, for if we are to learn from Him, then we must acknowledge Him as teacher. The psalmist in the Old Testament knew this (psalm 119) and Jesus even said it. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me," Matthew 11:29.

Once we have done this, we need to ask Him to teach us in our area of greatest need. As Christian parents this is Deuteronomy 6:4-9. It starts with " The Lord our God is one Lord" and it ends with diligently teaching your children His commandments at all times in all places. Many of us know this commandment, but we can not live it. We try fulfilling it of our own strength only to fail. When we ask Him to teach us, to shape us, then we will begin living it. With the Lord all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

Another area of need is prayer. For instance, I used to pray that my boys would be smart, healthy, financially stable, and have happy marriages. Since learning from the Lord I now say, "Oh Lord, I pray that as in Isaiah 11:2-3 may the spirit of the Lord rest upon them, may they have the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and may they delight in the fear of the Lord as you did." He will turn your attentions from the temporal to the eternal.

It is important to understand who is shaping whom, for our work has urgency. If our children are left to "find their own spiritual paths" and we are relying upon worldly teachers for parenting advice, then we are leaving our babes out for the lion. In 1 Peter 5:8, we are warned, "be sober, be vigilant (awake); because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour." We need to remember our sin nature -- our rebellion against God that says, "leave me alone, I know what I am doing." If our children and we walk in this rebellion, then both will be devoured, for evil pursues sinners (Proverbs 13:21). As always, your child has free will to accept or reject Christ, and she/he will do so with full knowledge of His love and impending judgement if He is your teacher.

These are hard words to write and even harder to ponder as a parent, so please do not forget in all things you are never alone. The God that named every star and keeps track of them all (Isaiah 40:26) is the same God that is beside you, ready to supply your needs when asked by a humble heart (Isaiah 40:28-31).

 

Isaiah 40:10-11

Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand,

and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him,

and his work before him.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd:

he shall gather the lambs with his arm,

and carry them in his bosom,

and shall gently lead those that are with young.