Genesis 36-40 – December 30, 2011 at 2:21am

Tonight was Genesis 36-40.   What caught my attention was Judah, Er, Onan, Shelah, and Tamar.   Judah was the father of Er, Onan, and Shelah.   Tamar married Er but he was so evil, God took his life.   As was custom in those days, Onan needed to marry Tamar and have a son to be heir for Er.   Onan didn’t
want that so every time they had relations, he spilled his seed on the ground so she wouldn’t become pregnant.   This, too, was wicked in the Lord’s sight so he took Oman’s life.   Shelah, at this point, was too young to marry so Judah told Tamar to go to her parents and she would be sent for when Shelah was of age.   Judah never intended to keep that promise because he didn’t want to lose another son.   What struck me is pretty simple….what type of parent was Judah?   He had one son so evil, the Lord took him, and another son defiant to the laws of their faith, the Lord took him as well.   To me, that says Judah was
anything but a good father.   What example must he have set for his kids to turn out that way?   So we must ask ourselves…what example are we setting for our kids?   Do they see us be defiant to authority and then wonder why they don’t accept our authority?   Do we lie in front if them and then be upset
when they lie to us?   Do we act mean towards people in our lives and then wonder where our kid’s meanness comes from?   Ultimately it boils down to this:  are we setting a good example or a bad example for our children?   If we have children with tempers, attitudes, zero respect for others, and indifference to rules and authority, we must look at ourselves and ask, honestly, is it something we are doing?   What is our example, day in and day out?   Not a little here, a little discipline there.   We must be consistent for the sake of our children.   Being a parent will never be easy but we MUST make every effort to raise them and to remove the bad qualities and pour in the good qualities.   Isn’t that what our Heavenly Father does with us?  He removes from us qualities that don’t honor Him and pouring into us the qualities that show Jesus in us.  So as parents ourselves, that means doing the time….every day no matter what.   We have such a short time with these precious souls.   We need to make it count.   Sleep well my friends.