This Spring I am considering the question "How do I prepare my children for a future filled with technology?"
With portable screens, technology can fill every part of both a parent's day and a child's day. From waking up to check email, to listening to a podcast while folding laundry, to checking social media while making toast, to watching a show while riding in the car, to playing an app while waiting at a restaurant.
Every minute of a parent's day and a child's day can be filled with information and entertainment. By the end of the day we can find ourselves hardly having God's Word in each of our hearts.
To prepare our children for a future filled with technology, first as parents we need to make the time to think on God's Word. We can take free moments during the day as continued opportunities to think on God's Word. We can each tell our mind what to think about, instead of passively surfing the internet.
Then we will be able to teach our children how to think on God's Word. This includes teaching them how to make choices with their time.
With portable screens, technology can fill every part of both a parent's day and a child's day. From waking up to check email, to listening to a podcast while folding laundry, to checking social media while making toast, to watching a show while riding in the car, to playing an app while waiting at a restaurant.
Every minute of a parent's day and a child's day can be filled with information and entertainment. By the end of the day we can find ourselves hardly having God's Word in each of our hearts.
To prepare our children for a future filled with technology, first as parents we need to make the time to think on God's Word. We can take free moments during the day as continued opportunities to think on God's Word. We can each tell our mind what to think about, instead of passively surfing the internet.
Then we will be able to teach our children how to think on God's Word. This includes teaching them how to make choices with their time.
1. Make time to be able to say "Thy word have I hid in mine heart".
To "hide" God's Word in our hearts takes attention and effort."Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Psalm 119:11 KJV
This same word was used to describe Moses's mom. "And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink." Exodus 2:2-3 KJV In chapter 1 of Exodus it describes how serious Pharaoh was about finding the baby boys. Moses's mom had to be active in hiding Moses. To hide God's Word in our hearts is an active process.
2. Make time to "think the things that are above"
In the new birth we have so many wonderful things to think on!"So then, since you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right side of God. Think the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth." Colossians 3:1-2 WTJ*
3. Make time to "be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind".
While we live in this world, we don't have to be conformed to this world. As Christians, we can renew our mind. This is something important to make time to do."I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:1-2 KJV
4. Make time to "meditate on your mighty deeds."
"I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds." Psalm 77:12 ESV"Meditate" means to speak to yourself. I can speak to myself about God's mighty deeds. I am missing out on a lot of wonderful thoughts when I passively take in information from technology.
In a culture filled with technology, a goal I have for my children is for each of them to know how to take the time to care for their hearts and minds. So what ever new technology they may face in the future, I want them to know how to stop technology from filling every possible moment, and how to do what God's Word says to do.
Related Posts:
"How Do I Prepare My Child For A Future Filled With Technology?"
5 Ways To Help Your Child To "Seek Peace and Pursue It"
Living Deuteronomy 6:7 With a Smart Phone In My Hand
"Hide God's Word In My Heart" Teaching Ideas
"Growing Up Social" Resource Recommendation
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*Working Translation: A Journey Through Acts and Epistles, Copyright © 2006 by Walter J. Cummins. All rights reserved.
©Brigette Hill, 2015
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