Bean Sprouts and Lost Children!

What life lesson can we learn from two beans?  Give me a couple of minutes to try and show you!
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
 
When my daughter, Alisa, was in grade school she was given a science project to do at home.  The instructions were:

1. Take two bean seeds and plant them in exactly the same type of container using the exact same type of soil.
2. Give each of these potted seeds the exact same amount of water on a daily basis.
3.  Record what happens over the next 30 days.  Especially by taking precise measurements once the beans begin to grow.
4. On day one, predict which bean sprout will be the biggest at the end of 30 days.

Pretty simple!  There was one major difference between the two “beans” though.  One container was to be placed in a widow sill with good access to sunlight and the other was to be placed in a closet with no sun.
We talked about it and finally she decided that the one on the window sill would be bigger than the one in the closet. Her reasoning was that by having access to the sun it would grow and the one without the sun wouldn’t grow!  Sound reasoning, I felt proud.  I’d taught my daughter to think critically.
Unfortunately, that’s not what happened.  I can’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure that they both broke ground very close to the same time.  But, over the next few days something very interesting happened. The one in the closet grew to be 3 times larger than the sprout in the sun.  Amazing, right?!  Who would have thought, plant your seeds in a closet and watch them grow much faster than if you planted them in the yard.  Wrong answer!
Yes, the bean sprout was three times as long, but it was very skinny and very sickly.  It was never going to amount to anything.
The sprout that had been in the sun was only a third the size of its counterpart, but it was thick and healthy.
 
“When our relationship with God and His gift to us, our spouse, is solid, we are in a much better position to pour into our children.”
 
Why would I remember that for over 25 years?  Because of what I see in the culture today.  Let me try and flesh that out.  Look at people today, especially youth.  So many have no hope, and that’s because they’ve placed their hope in something that will let them down.  Sex, drugs, material things, you name it, they can’t sustain you.
Many people are just like that “bean sprout” in the closet looking for what will keep it alive, the sun!  They’re going anywhere and everywhere trying everything, searching for a purpose in life.  They’re looking for “nourishment”, something that will sustain them and help them to grow. But, they’re not finding it, because it can’t be found in fleshly things.
Let me give you a specific example of what I’m talking about.  Every youth focused event that I’ve spoken at this year there’ve been youth in attendance that have had one of their peers commit suicide.  I know, because they come up and talk with me about it.  On at least 2 occasions the suicide had happened within days of my arrival.
One of the young ladies who had done this was the class “star”!  According to her peers that spoke with me, she was the smartest and most talented girl in the school.  When you speak with these young people you can just see a yearning for something that is real and solid.
How do we keep them from growing like the bean in the closet?  It’s quite simple, not very profound, yet not so easy to do.

1. Parents – Commit yourselves to the Lord!  If your relationship with the Lord is lacking, you can not pass anything of value on to your children.  You can only pour out, what you’ve got in you.  Draw deep on the wisdom of God found in His Word. Psalm 37:5
2. Parents – Commit yourselves to each other!  There is not a greater destructive force on the family today than divorce.  Maybe you’re someone who has gone through or is going through this right now and you think I’m attacking you.  Not true!  I’m praying that Holy Spirit will use this simple admonition to draw parents to the Lord first.  If this happens they can then work out their issues under His guidance and this will lead to their ability to commit themselves to each other.  There is hope, He is still in the reconciliation business. Hebrews 13:4, Ephesians 5:22 & 25
3. Parents – Commit yourselves to your children!  We have such a short amount of time with them.  I know that it can be overwhelming, but don’t lose site of the big picture.  When our relationship with God and His gift to us, our spouse, is solid, we are in a much better position to pour into our children.  Don’t let the momentary pleasures the world has to offer deceive you into losing focus.  Deuteronomy 6:6-9 give us a great pattern for how to raise our children.

You noticed that I put the focus on the parents.  Yes, and that’s because we are the key to changing society.  We have got to quit abdicating our responsibility of training and educating our children to the world!
I told you, it’s quite simple, not very profound, yet not so easy to do.  When it gets crazy, just think of that bean in the closet.  Growing everywhere, looking for the sun.  Don’t let your child grow up like that, don’t you live like that.  Bask in the beautiful rays of the “Son”, and grow up strong and firm bearing much fruit.  That’s just my Random Thought for now.
Stay Bold!
 
P.S. – Make sure to check out our brand new “Weapons of Mass Instruction” DVD entitled, “Unearthing the Truth!”.  Join me and some friends in Glendive, Montana as we look at dinosaur bones to see what the evidence supports.  You can see the Promo and order HERE!