I’m trying to follow through with my goals from several months ago, so yesterday during breakfast, I read Isaiah 6:3 to the children as they ate. We’ll talk about this verse all week. I decided not to do it before we prayed for our food, because it seems like all they’re thinking about at that point is food. Talking about the verse while we eat seems more natural and they get it more. It was fun!
It also bled into another goal of mine, which is actually teach David hymns and what they mean. It’s one thing for me to reject hymns when they’re above their ability to grasp. It’s another to be lazy and not teach them when they can get it, with effort. So after we talked about what it means that God is holy (God is different, God is perfectly loving, God does not sin), and after we talked about how the whole earth reflects that God is holy, and after we talked about how and why Isaiah said three times that God was holy (David’s interested in numbers, and for some reason the repetition fascinated him), I sang the song to them several times. Later that afternoon, I head David singing some of it. Granted, the song also talked about a bird and a rocket, but this really is something new developmentally for him.
[Long pause] I was so excited I forgot to tell God thank you until just now. God’s goodness really can bring us to repentance, can’t it? When I see God’s hand of mercy (like when somebody I need to call actually calls me first), it really does humble me. And speaking of humbling, when Isaiah saw God in His holiness, he fell to his feet in the realization of his sinfulness. I wonder if showing God’s holiness isn’t a good place to start in teaching our children their sinfulness. Maybe we’ll talk about the context of Isaiah 4:3 this morning. If we do that, I had better take some time to think about it myself right now.
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