I Can Only Imagine
Posted in Daily Focus on Sunday, February 2, 2014
"I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes" (Psalm 101:2b-3a).
I can still picture my two little daughters playing their favorite game during recess time from homeschooling. With the "Little House" books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder as their inspiration, they loved becoming Mary and Laura whenever playing alone or with friends. Since we had read the entire series several times during our nightly story time, I shouldn't have been surprised this was their favorite game. Living in the heart of the Midwest made the stories even more alive in their imaginations.
Time and again I saw the influence of a story or book on the hearts and minds of my children. The literature they read was not only processed as information, but it also became the seedbed for their imaginations in play. Therefore, choosing the right books became crucially important, since their character development was affected by them. Thankfully, there was always one book we could rely on to communicate a message we wanted our children to hear. My young children never tired of hearing the Old Testament stories of Moses, Joseph, Gideon, Samson, David, and the like.
What about you? As a homeschooling parent, where do you go with your imagination when you have time for yourself? Does your imagination lead you into the spiritual truths you've learned from the Bible, or does it play tempting "what if" games with the ungodly mental pictures you've seen in magazines, books, movies, and TV? Today, the influences for evil in the world are everywhere, but God's Word exhorts us to take every thought captive to the mind of Christ, including our imaginations (2 Corinthians 10:5). Wouldn't you hate to imagine what you may become if you don't? "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (James 1:14-15).
Father, forgive me for using my imagination for evil instead of good. Expose those secret places in my thoughts that I think You don't see. Show me again how to meditate on Your Word to live in a way that pleases You. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Comments(7 comments)
KIMBERLY S 02/04/2010 20:09:36
Been there!! Yup. \"Stinkin-thinkin\" I think it\'s called. Worthless thoughts that get our minds and hearts of what they\'re supposed to be on. Home schooling would be a good place for me to put my mind. Would the devil like to mess me up? He would. Would he like to ruin and destroy my home? Yes. Please pray that I\'ll make the right choice. Grace to you.
Kim
JANET E 02/02/2011 09:15:19
I am glad someone else chooses or directs the books that their kids read. I did this with my kids in their 30\'s and now do it with my younger adopted ones. People think that I am to picky. And don\'t understand why, I have been reading and choosing children\'s books for my kids for 35 years and it makes a difference. There is so much good literature out there for adults and kids, no reason to expose ourselves or our children to questionable characters. I believe that the Bible says whatsoever things are lovely, good, pure, etc....think on these things, that I would imagine would include what we read or watch. Janet
BARBARA S 02/02/2012 05:16:54
Absolutely. Its hard enough to keep our thoughts pure without filling our head with useless dribble. Thanks for helping us know we are not alone in our fight to limit the junk in our kids\' minds. Somethimes, the road is hard.
KATHY S 02/02/2012 07:28:16
I had all the\"Little House\" books as a child. I absolutley loved them !!
Just an FYI for family entertainment, Little House is on T.V.. in the morning and the evening on seperate channels.
It is a very heart warming show.
I guess it is hard today to find movies and shows that are \"safe\", or at least have a Christian message in them.
We just love Tyler Perry\'s Movies. They are funny and, They always have a message about \"God\" or the need to find God.
The only bad thing is along with all the good, they do add a few unneeded things in them.
But, all in all they show alot of \"real life\" type stories, and, usually in the end someone who didn\'t know the Lord, does, or someone perhaps sinning, finds the Lord.
And, when you see some of the troubled charachters, it\'s always a good time to express to your children (that are at least over 12 years old for these movies), how the person got into the situation, and if they had Jesus at the time, maybe that could have been prevented. Or how to avoid gettin into bad situations period.
I just keep the \"fast forward\" button handy, and \"FF\" through the bad or unneeded parts of the movies.
Anyway, yes, we all shouls try and keep our eyes and thoughts on Jesus always. Amen.
And thank you as always for another inspiring Devotional.
GRACE J 02/02/2012 07:54:05
Amen! Thank you for the admonition to holy living.
TANIA S 02/02/2012 10:06:11
Pinterest, I hope it doesn\'t cause me to covet things and ideas. Blog reading, I can tell you right now there are some blogs I should let go of. TV shows I think are OK to watch once children are in bed, sigh. This has hit home for me. ME. So now I better take a finer look at what I have been allowing of my children. Excellent devotional. Thank you Lord for using it today.
Lynn Brim 02/02/2015 14:25:54
Janet E, do you happen to have a list of books you like and appropriate age levels? I am looking for first and second grade level books for boys currently. Enjoyed your comment! Thanks Very Much!