This blog post is presented by Generations, the host of the Noah Conference.
Does it seem like your family is getting pulled a hundred directions? Is a crazy schedule and an enticing but hostile culture making it hard to stay connected to your kids?
You and your family might feel like you’re swimming upstream. But have you ever tried swimming against a flood? 4,000 years ago, the earth was about to be covered by the greatest flood of all time. But another flood was raging which posed an even greater danger to Noah and his family – a worldwide flood of ungodliness.
What did Noah do?
“By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” (Heb 11:7)
You, like Noah, are competing against a thousand corrupt voices. How can you make your voice heard through the din calling, “Follow me as I follow Christ”?
Engage
You might not start Noah and Sons, Arkbuilders Inc., but you will have to find a way to involve your kids in your life, work and ministry. Whether it’s making dinner, fixing the car, visiting an elderly couple, or working through ups and downs in your local church, there are thousands of seemingly insignificant opportunities to engage your kids in the work God has called you to. The question is: are you capitalizing on them?
Disciple
How did Noah get his sons to follow him into the ark? A flood? Seriously? It hadn’t even rained before! Simply being part of the project was not enough. Noah’s sons had to believe with their own hearts that the message of impending judgment God had spoken to their father was true.
In the same way, simply getting your kids to do what you do is not enough to save them. They must believe that their only hope of salvation is entering the ultimate Ark – the Lord Jesus. And this requires discipleship. 2 Peter 2:5 calls Noah “a preacher of righteousness”, and you, too, must lovingly, humbly, and consistently disciple your children in the truth of the Scriptures.
Ready to launch?
God saved Noah and his sons in the ark, and then sent them out from the ark to subdue and replenish and the world. When your kids are ready to launch into life, will they be prepared with the conviction, character, and competence required to be faithful ambassadors of Jesus Christ?
You can’t save your kids or guarantee their success in life. But you can faithfully engage and disciple them, and trust God to work through you to prepare your children for life. “So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:7)
And it all starts by turning seemingly insignificant opportunities to engage into extraordinary opportunities to disciple.
Special Invitation:
If you care about launching your kids, we invite you to join families from across the country for the Noah Conference in Cincinnati on August 11 & 12 – just minutes away from the new life-size Ark Encounter and Creation Museum. Based on lessons from the life of Noah, the Noah Conference will prepare you to engage your kids, disciple them in an ungodly generation, and launch them into life as ambassadors of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Friends of IAHE registering before June 30th will receive a special discount of over 30% off full-price admission. (Use code IAHE)