For dad only:
Golden Opportunities
Are you motivated more by a pay increase or by doing what pleases God? We often lose track of our priorities as dads. We think we have to provide more and more to prove our manhood. We see other guys giving their kids every new gadget and feel we must do the same if we really love our kids. We want our wives to have better appliances, vehicles, and homes. The desire for better things can drive us to frustration.
More than just avoiding covetousness, we need to pursue a right goal. What we do for our kids must be done not by peer pressure but by a desire to please God. If our motive as fathers is to give God glory, our good intentions will work out even if we miss the target a little. However, if we seek to fulfill an image or satisfy some greedy drive, we displease God and make our families miserable.
Teach them how to handle “gold.”
Set the right example for your family. Give God glory in everything you do. Seek His approval first. Honor Him with your finances. Rather than giving your kids money to blow on stupid junk, teach them to give tithes and offerings and to save.
Get Gold Tried in the Fire
Do more for God than you would for gold.
I’ve often seen people who would do more for gold than they ever would for God. If there was a Friday night church service, they might say, “I’m too exhausted to go.” But if their boss calls them in on a Friday night or makes them work late, they go without complaint—either for the extra money (gold) or so they don’t lose their job (again, gold). I’ve seen people who would never wear a dress shirt and tie to church because it wasn’t their style. But when they got a professional job and were required to dress that way, suddenly their “style” changed. Gold motivated them more than their respect for God and His house.
Think of your priorities this way: If someone paid you to spend time with your kids, would you do it more? If you got cash each day for praying and reading God’s Word with your family, how would things change from the way they are now?
Avoid golden opportunities.
Stop letting money buy you out from your family calling. Do you leave your family behind while you travel for a week or more? You cannot raise a family over the phone or internet. They need you. Sure, you feel like a big cheese getting to go on business trips, but if you are such a hot shot, travel and fame will still be waiting for you after your kids are grown.
I don’t care if you go over the road as a trucker, overseas as an executive, or around the world as a preacher, nothing should take you away from your family for lengthy periods. If you can bring them along without tearing them apart, then do. Otherwise, you have to stop your large-living and tend to the little ones God has given you. They need to be at your side. They need to hear you praying in the morning. They need to discuss the scriptures with you. They need the security of knowing their father is with them.
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Dad, read this story to your kids
The Better Treasure
Back at the campfire, Rusty, Misty, and Dad got Mom to come sit down with them while they opened the mysterious metal box.
“I think it is GOLD!” Rusty said in a loud whisper.
“Shh!” Misty scolded, “someone will hear you.”
Dad had to use a screwdriver to pry open the clasp. He eased open the lid against its rusted hinges. All four heads nearly banged together to see what was in the box.
“Gold!” Rusty said, reaching in and grabbing a large yellow rock. He held it up in the fading sunlight and looked at the sparkling rock. “We found gold.”
Dad and Mom looked at each other. Dad frowned.
Misty grabbed out a golden nugget. “It looks funny.”
“We’re rich! We have a box full of gold!” Rusty said, wiggling all over with excitement.
Dad laughed at his antics and Mom shook her head and chuckled.
Misty got serious. “But can we keep it? Who owns the land where we found it?”
“It is government property—this is a national park. But that is the least of our problems. First, this is not real gold.”
“What?” Rusty and Misty said together.
Mom smiled at their puzzled looks and said, “This is fool’s gold.”
“It looks like gold, but really it is sulfur or something. Feel how light it is? If this were gold it would be heavier and more metal like. This is just like golden chunks of coal.”
“Is it worth anything?” Rusty said looking it over closely.
“It was probably worth a lot to the old prospector who thought he had found real gold. No one will give you anything for it today except for decoration or perhaps to preserve history.”
Everyone was silent around the campfire for a minute. Dad got out his Bible and flipped through the pages for a bit before he read Proverbs 3:13-15 to them:
“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.”
After a little discussion of this verse and Dad said, “So, we need to pray for wisdom what to do with these things we have found.” They prayed together, put out the fire, and headed to bed.
The sun had just started to warm up the air the next morning, as Rusty crawled out of the tent with the box they had found the night before. Dad was sitting at the crackling campfire making coffee in an open pot. Rusty plunked the metal box down between them and yawned.
“The fire feels good,” he slurred, as he stretched.
“Mmmm,” Dad responded, rubbing his eye.
“I didn’t sleep much last night,” Rusty said, opening the box. He reached in and took out one of the golden rocks.
“It would have been nice if that was real gold,” Dad said, picking up a piece of fool’s gold.
“I know what we need to do,” Rusty said.
“We need to wake up your Mom and Sister.”
“About the box,” Rusty continued, “we need to give it to a museum.”
Dad nodded. “That’s a good idea.”
After a breakfast of eggs and bacon on the campfire, the family piled into the minivan and headed into town to find the museum. Dad met with the curator of the museum and showed him the backpack, the note, the rope, and the box of fool’s gold. The man nearly burst with excitement over these new treasures for the museum collection. He made a phone call and came back to talk with them some more. A few minutes later a sheriff came in where the family was sitting and said he needed to talk to Dad.
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So, discuss it!
If Rusty and Misty had found a stockpile of real gold, would it have made them happy?
If you own lots of things, do they make you happy?
New toys and the latest electronic gadgets may make us happy for a few days, but they lose their newness after a while. You get tired of them and want something new.
According to Proverbs 3:14-16, what is more valuable than gold?
Where does wisdom come from?
God.
Where does a love for gold (money) come from?
The devil.
How will your life be different if you pursue wisdom instead of pursuing gold?
Is there anything you can desire to have that will be more valuable than wisdom?
Proverbs 3:16 says nothing you desire can be compared to wisdom. Of course, a love for wisdom is a love for God because all He is and all He does comes from wisdom.
If that box had been full of gold, what do you think they should have done with it?
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Want some weekend fun? Take your kids hunting for gold or other valuables with the Bounty Hunter QD2GWP Quick Draw II Metal Detector with Pinpointer and Carry Bag
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Dad, have one of your kids read this story.
Preacher for Hire
There was once a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. He told his mother, “When someone stole those eleven hundred pieces of silver from you, you put a curse on the robber. I heard you do it. Look, I have the money. I am the one who took it.”
His mother said, “May the LORD bless you, my son!”
He gave the money back to his mother, and she said, “To keep the curse from falling on my son, I myself am solemnly dedicating the silver to the LORD. It will be used to make a wooden idol covered with silver. So now I will give the pieces of silver back to you.”
Then he gave them back to his mother. She took two hundred of the pieces of silver and gave them to a metalworker, who made an idol, carving it from wood and covering it with the silver. It was placed in Micah’s house. This man Micah had his own place of worship. He made some idols and an ephod, and appointed one of his sons as his priest.
There was no king in Israel at that time; everyone did whatever they wanted. At that same time there was a young Levite who had been living in the town of Bethlehem in Judah. He left Bethlehem to find another place to live. While he was traveling, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.
Micah asked him, “Where do you come from?”
He answered, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a place to live.”
Micah said, “Stay with me. Be my adviser and priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, some clothes, and your food.”
The young Levite agreed to stay with Micah and became like a son to him. Micah appointed him as his priest, and he lived in Micah’s home.
Micah said, “Now that I have a Levite as my priest, I know that the LORD will make things go well for me.”
(Judges 17:1-13, Good News Bible)
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What does it all mean for us?
Which did Micah love more: money or his mother?
Money. He stole from his own mother and only returned it for fear of something bad happening to him.
Did His mother really love God or was she superstitious?
Superstitious. If she loved God she would not have made an idol to worship.
What was the job of a Levite?
To serve God. He was to help people worship the one true God. He would be like a preacher today.
Did the Levite do what God had called him to do?
He started out with a desire to serve God, but then Micah turned him away from that.
What caused this preacher (the Levite) to serve an idol instead of the true God?
Micah offered him 10 pieces of silver, new clothes, and food.
What do you think God wants you to do with your life?
They could say missionary or mechanic. If they have no vision yet, at least get them to see that they should be faithful church members and devoted parents.
Will you let money turn you away from that goal?
Get Gold Tried in the Fire
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Memorize this:
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