Writing God's Law

I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people”

Hebrews 8:10

When we have our child still young, we mark out clear boundaries, and as the child matures into adolescence, we begin pulling up those boundaries just a little at a time. As they graduate from high school and move into college, most of the boundaries are gone, and we pray with all our might that they will remember where those boundaries are.

I believe the Holy Spirit taps on our children’s hearts, and warns them not to cross the boundaries set by their parents. Sometimes they will proceed to cross the boundaries anyway. That’s when the shock comes in. It might be in the form of discipline and it might be in the form of living with some very unpleasant consequences.

In the Old Testament, God wrote the Law (the Ten Commandments) on tablets of stone, but in the New Testament, He wrote the Law of Love on our hearts. Isn’t that our prayer? Yes, we have to spell out the boundaries for our children and point them in the right direction when they are young. But as they move into adulthood, we pray the boundaries will be written on their hearts.

Consider the boundaries listed below:

-Be careful what you see.
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness“ Matthew 6:22, 23

-Be careful what you love.
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money“ Mathew 6:24.

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” Proverbs 5:23

-Be careful who you listen to.
“My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body” Proverbs 5:20-22

-Be careful what you say.
“Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips” Proverbs 5:24

-Be careful where you go.
“Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil” Proverbs 5:26, 27

-Be careful whom you choose for close friends.
Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character" 1 Corinthians 15:33