Day 7 - #obediencechallenge - Why?

If you want to know what this is all about, see my intro post at 30 Days to Better Faith.

Here's one of the BIG "whys" as to why modeling my life in a scriptural way is SO IMPORTANT to me, and why I never shut up about it --> MY KIDS.

If I allow them to participate in things that I KNOW are rooted in ideas and traditions that God considers worshipping other gods, I am teaching them to settle. That it's okay to be mediocre, especially when it comes to God. I am teaching them that whatever fire they SHOULD have for their Creator should be quelched, in favor of society's standards. That's just not what we were created for. We were created for GOOD works.

The thing that really got me was when I saw this picture, comparing Santa and Jesus. I'd been teaching my kids that there's some dude that lives up north that never dies, knows what they're doing, has the "spirit of Christmas", keeps their names on the naughty or nice list, has similar appearances to Jesus, and operates at night, while our Savior operates in the light. I'd been telling them to "be good" so that Santa would give them freaking presents.

How... in the world... are we supposed to expect that our kids will believe ANYTHING we say about our Savior if we're setting up a lie that very closely mimics His very characteristics?

In keeping man-made traditions (that stem from sun god and fertility god worship - in other words, IDOL WORSHIP), I am teaching them that it's okay to compromise God's Word "as long as you're doing it with the right heart" - which is in COMPLETE contradiction to God's Word. Ahem, see the story about the golden calf... they totally set it up IN ORDER TO WORSHIP GOD WITH IT. And He wanted to kill them as a result. KILL. THEM.

Let's take Christ OUT of Christmas. Let's stop eating Easter ham, and start honoring the sacrifice of our Passover Lamb, who shed His blood at THE GAIN of OUR FREEDOM and the COST OF HIS LIFE.

My kids are under the spiritual authority of me and my husband. If we allow them to participate in activities that are even remotely linked to idol worship, the following scriptures will fall on their heads. Why would I risk that?

Numbers 14:18

"But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected--even children in the third and fourth generations."

Exodus 20:5

"You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected--even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me."

Matthew 18:6-7

"...but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!"

Amos 5:21

"I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies."

I'm #sorrynotsorry that I am so passionate about this, but I just CAN. NOT. even in the SLIGHTEST, compromise that. I will not. And my prayer is that you won't either, which is why I am so vocal about this. I truly believe that there is a reason these things have been revealed to me, and to many many others, in this time. To challenge the church to become the PURE bride it is supposed to be. Do not let your eternity be fettered away because of fleeting traditions, friends. God loves you too much to watch you from afar. COME NEAR to HIM, and HE WILL COME NEAR TO YOU.