A Lesson from Rotten Apples

A few days ago, I had Lydia and Caleb help me go through our box of apples. Our friends were so kind and allowed us to pick as many apples as we wanted from their apple trees. Even though I had made many jars of applesauce and apple butter so far, we still had a lot left. The box was big so I knew that there were probably some that were rotten at the bottom.

While we were sorting through the apples, Lydia asked why we had to remove the rotten ones. I told her that the rotten ones would make all of the good apples rot. "Oh" was all she said. And then the Holy Spirit brought to my mind our Bible verses and how I could use this to teach her. We have been teaching Lydia and Caleb many different verses since the time they could talk, but for the last month, my children have been learning Psalm 1. (I wanted them to learn some Bible passages too, not just random verses. I thought Psalm 1 would be a good place to start!) The first verse says, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." And it goes on in the next five verses to compare and contrast the righteous man who loves God and the unrighteous man. I always try to explain these so they can understand, but I still have never felt like they really "got it." But I hoped this would be a lightbulb moment. So I asked Lydia and Caleb what Psalm 1:1 says and they, like always, happily recited it. Then I explained to them that "the man in Psalm one was happy (blessed) because he didn't hang around people who didn't love God. God doesn't want us to be with bad people because He knows we will start being bad like them. It's just like these apples." They both had listened intently but didn't really say much. A few minutes later, Lydia piped up, "Mommy, I don't want to hang around rotten people because I don't want to become rotten!" Lesson learned. =)

Even though this was meant to be a lesson for them, it really was a lesson for me. I have gotten sidetracked from memorizing Scripture in the recent weeks and I need to just start up again. This incident was so convicting! I am just so challenged, yet encouraged that when we hide God's Word in our hearts, the Lord uses it to teach us so much. It's crazy how God brings Scripture to your mind to apply to so many situations! And please don't ever think your children are too young to memorize scripture. Teach them now. Now is the time to foster a love and excitement for God's Word! Lydia told me a few weeks ago that saying her verses was so much fun and that it was one of her favorite parts of the day. What a blessing!

So if you are not teaching your children verses yet, why not begin today? It's simple, fun, and will have lasting effects in the lives of your children!