Back to School

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. (Proverbs 3:5-10 ESV). It’s almost time to get ready for another school year. Usually before school starts Tennessee will have a sales-tax-free-day. It is designed to help parents get more for their money as they buy school clothes and supplies for their children. It really is a good idea. However, as I was looking at some of the advertising, it amazed me how much a child “needs” to go to school these days. The impression is that unless your child has backpacks, accessories, clothes, and supplies all from the “right” manufacturer, they cannot be successful in school. Of course, this isn’t a new thought. Wearing the “right” clothes has always been a part of the rite of passage for our children. This year, however, I’d like to suggest a different approach. There are some that would caution you against any form of “name brands.” They would call such materialism and therefore sinful. It can be. But, there is another way to approach all of your purchases. In her book, Discipline, the Glad Surrender, Elisabeth Elliot reveals four meaningful lessons to be learned from the discipline of our possessions: The first lesson is that God gives all things. Because God gives us things indirectly by enabling us to make them with our own hands (out of things He has made, of course) or to earn the money to buy them. We are prone to forget that He gave them to us. We should be thankful. Thanksgiving requires the recognition of the Source. It implies contentment with what is given, not complaint...it excludes covetousness. The third lesson is that things can be material for sacrifice. The Father pours out His blessings on us; we, His creatures, receive them with open hands, give thanks, and lift them up as an offering back to Him. This lesson leads naturally to the fourth, which is that things are given to us to enjoy for awhile. What is not at all fitting or proper is that we should set our hearts on them. Temporal things must be treated as temporal things, received, given thanks for, offered back but enjoyed.” Don’t “keep up with the Jones’.” Teach your children the value of the gifts of God. Teach them to be thankful for the things God has allowed you to possess and the true value of those things. Above all, teach your children that their value is based on their inward character and not on their outward appearances. Instill in them an unshakable knowledge of your love and acceptance.