I didn’t ask you to take them to the water and make them drink
by Tanya
“You can take a cow to the water but you can’t make it drink”
This was a statement that I was famous for saying when it came to talking about families. At that time I did not have any children and would often remark that there was only so much a parent could do in creating a environment for their children to grow and thrive, but the children still had to choose. Everything I said was true, but I was missing something important. We can create an environment where our children take part in ministry, go to church regularly and we can only hope that when they get older they will continue to follow on the path we have placed them on.
But is that our only job as parents?
A guy I was acquainted with said that when he was a salesman, he told his boss the same line I quoted earlier and this is what his boss told him,
“Your job is not to make the cow drink. Your job is to create thirst in the cow.”
We aren’t to live in such a way that our children will simply go to church. We are to live our lives in a way that our children will desire to know God, they will thirst after God and choose to “drink from the springs of living water”.
I am learning to allow God to mold me. I don’t just want to lead my children to the water’s edge, I want them to see me drinking, see me enjoying that water so much, that just watching me drinking it all up, they will become thirsty and drink from that same water.
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I didn’t ask you to take them to the water and make them drink by Tanya (click to tweet)
Tanya – from God’s Character
Tanya is a child of God, wife, stay at home mom and homeschooler. She loves the Lord and loves telling people about who He is. By God’s grace her husband and she intend to live out Joshua’s statement “but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. And so her greatest desire is to see her Lord face to face and along with her family, join in the joyous strains of triumphant voices praising our Lord and King. Check out her blog at God’s Character.
Last week, I watched YouTube video of Keith Green, in which he said that Martha Ravenhill was approached by a deacon or somebody in the church, who was indignant and concerned that one her young sons wasn’t saved yet, and she needed to do something about it. And she told that man to leave her son alone, because if someone could talk him into getting saved, someone could talk him out of it. Her son did get saved later that year, and went into the ministry when he was an adult. Your article reminded me of that story and I wanted of share in case you has never heard it ☺️Thank you for sharing!
I never heard of it. Wonderful story for Christian parents to hear.
I love Keith Green’s songs.
Thank you.
Very well put Tanya.
Thank you for sharing your insightful approach to this important aspect of godly parental guidance and spiritual nurture.
I also appreciated your post on your own blog.
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