A Lasting Mark

Monday Devotional

“He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress,

and for his children it will be a refuge.”

Proverbs 14:26

In a world where two different news stations can provide two opposing sets of facts as the truth, it’s easy to throw up our hands and say, “It’s chaos! Nobody really knows the truth.” We want to know the truth, but when two different people give us two different sets of facts, it actually feels like a relief to find a reliable, trusted source.

That’s what it’s like for a child trying to determine her values. Chaos surrounds our kids; they need a mom and a dad to walk before them to show them the way. They need to see how we, overwhelmed by life, find security and hope in a God who is greater than we are, and how we strive to live unselfishly, even sacrificially when need be, to seek first the kingdom of God. We model an appropriate fear of the Lord—reverencing him, obeying his word, walking in his ways—and cultivate a hatred for sin. When we do this, we construct a spiritual refuge for our children. Proverbs 14:26 tells us, “He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge” (emphasis added). That’s right—our walking in the fear of God becomes a refuge for our children.