Happy Mom Monday!

As my children are getting older, I am finding the battle for their precious souls increasing. There is a world of evil out there that desires to have them. This battle requires the use of some serious weapons: God's word, prayer, wisdom and the courage and determination to engage and fight. Here is one of the weapons I had to use recently:   " Eli's sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the Lord.  Now it was the practice of the preists with the people that whenever anyone offered a sacrifice and while the meat was being boiled, the servant of the priest would come with a three- pronged fork in his hand. He would plunge it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot, and the priest would take for himself whatever the fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to shiloh. But even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest some meat to roast; he won't accept boiled meat from you, but only raw." If the mand said to him, "Let the fat be burned up first, and then take whatever you want," the servant would then answer, "No, hand it over now; if you don't, I'll take it by force." This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD'S sight, for they were treating the LORD'S offering with contempt..................Now Eli, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Isreal and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. so he said to them, "Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among God's people. ...His sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke....Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "This is what the Lord says: ' Did I not clearly reveal myself to your father's house when they were in Egypt under Pharoah?...........WHY DO YOU HONOR YOUR SONS MORE THAN ME by fattening  yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people, Isreal?.......................I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and HE FAILED TO RESTRAIN THEM." 1 Samuel 2:12-17, , 22-25, 27,29:and 3; 13     A few observations and questions:       What made Eli's sons wicked???? They had no regard for the Lord.   Am I teaching my children to have regard for the Lord??? What does "regard for the Lord" look like???     Is there anywhere in my parenting, are there things that I am allowing, where I am honoring my children MORE than I am honoring God????  I am to make it my goal as a parent to HONOR GOD FIRST.   God will judge me and my family for sins I know about but FAIL TO RESTRAIN.   It is not enough to simply rebuke. As parents, we MUST restrain our children. It is our responsibility to "control, check, repress, deprive of freedom, restrict....for their own good."   May we as parents be regularly interacting with God's words and putting them into practice that we might be faithful in this most holy job he has given us. May we honor him more than our children. May we pray that He would strengthen us for this daunting and wonderful task. Blessings from Bombadl.....home of a woman who NEEDS GOD'S WORDS to guide her in her role as a mom. Kristy LInk     "I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me." Phillipians 1:25 & 26