“… and there he wasted his money living like a fool”
Luke 15:13
I’ve had a couple of interesting conversations lately, about child-raising. After all, I’ve got teens now, and it’s a tricky age for a lot of parents. So it helps to compare notes and share wisdom. And I’ve got two friends that are having to make some tough discipline decisions. Both have upper-teen-but-still-not-legal-adult age kids, who are making poor choices.
Parents generally start with an easy-going, warning-type attitude to smaller infractions, and hope that their kids will learn the lesson the easy way. But when the transgressions grow in quantity or magnitude, there comes a need for harsher actions. And that can be painful for both parent and child. But it’s the example God gave us.
In Romans 1, Paul warns us that at some point, God will “give us over” to our sins, and then there will be no escaping the consequences of our actions. God will not forsake us, but He will let us choose something else. This is the choice parents sometimes have to make: the choice to let go, and let the repercussions do the teaching.
The story of the prodigal son, in Luke 15, is not only a beautiful illustration of God the Father welcoming us home, but also an illustration of Him letting us go.
Light Expectations 