Kids will be kids & Jezebel

This post is going to be completely off-the-cuff- not my usual well-thought-out and edited versions, so bear with me...

I was doing some reading in Revelation (2:18-29) this morning (that's what we are studying in church right now) and v. 24 stuck out to me: "But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them- I place no other burden on you."

First of all, I assume "this teaching" would be the false teaching of the false prophetess, Jezebel, who lured some in the church to practice immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols.

The part that really caught my attention was "the deep things of Satan, as they call them". "As they call them" seems like John is mocking what the heretics thought they knew- their so-called secret knowledge. I wonder if Jezebel's goal was to convince people that they couldn't really learn the true nature of sin unless they experienced the deep pits of all things evil- a twisted version of saying only those who have really experienced sin can truly appreciate grace.

All of this to get to my thoughts about raising our children...

Have you ever heard the expression "kids will be kids" or "they just need to sow their wild oats" or "rumspringa"? (The last is the Amish tradition of allowing their young people to rebel and misbehave before baptism in the hope that they will get it out of their system.)

This theology is completely against everything God's Word teaches:
~IKi.11:1-13- "...You will not associate with them...for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods..."
~Ps.1:1- "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked..."
~Prov.1:10-19- "My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent..."
~Prov.4:14- "Do not enter the path of the wicked..."
~1Cor.5:9- "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people..."
~1Cor.15:33- "Do not be deceived, bad company corrupts good morals."
and many, many more.

My brother-in-law, whom I greatly respect, told me one time that our children will ONLY live up to what we expect of them. If we expect our teenagers to act like the world's teenagers, then they probably will. If we expect our 2 year old to fit the "terrible twos", then they probably will. If we expect our adolescent daughters to be moody, then they probably will.

I believe God is calling us parents to set extremely high standards for our kids, while also showing them that we are sinners whom God is waiting to pour His grace on. We should not expect our kids to wallow in the flesh pots of Egypt, so that they can more readily experience grace. We cannot look around us and set our standards! We need to look to God's Word for our standards. It's so easy to say, "Well, at least our kids aren't as bad as ____________". We so readily accept substandards because we have a skewed idea of what's acceptable. That goes for us, too, as adults.

We must stay vigilant in our prayer life, praying hedges around our homes, our kids, our hearts...and let's pray for each other, too.