Time Out!

I remember playing with my cousins at my grandmother's house. We would play"chase", and to start the game, someone would yell, "Not it". The lastperson to say "Not It" became "It", and the game began...running, dodging, chasing, screaming, laughing...invariably, someone's shoe would come untied,and you'd hear the words, "Time Out!" Immediately, the action stops. Everyone freezes until the caller yells, "Time in!", and the game goes on until most everyone is completely spent of energy. Fun times - you remember, don't you :)

Today, "Time out" usually carries a different connotation. It usually refersto separation due to an inappropriate action; it's the "discipline of choice" for many of today's young parents. Employed correctly, it can be extremely effective. Child behavior specialists recommend 1 minute of timeout for each year of the age of the child (i.e. 3 years old = 3 minutes intime out). Of course, an adolescent's Time Out looks different. Time Out from some privilege or activity; Time Out from a person, etc. The concept is the same in discipline of our grandchildren as it was when we played Chase: "Something's wrong here! Stop everything and let's fix it!"

One of the greatest privileges we enjoy as grandparents is the wisdom wehave acquired based on our life experience. We can recognize when there is a"problem". The problem is: we all have a problem - the problem of owning a sinful nature. Our familiarity with God's Holy Spirit breeds recognition of sin in others - particularly in those children we so love. When God's Spirit quickens your spirit, showing the reality of sin, I challenge you to listen and take Christ-like, age-appropriate action with that child.

God has made it clear in His Word that SIN SEPARATES (See Psalm 66:18, for one reference). The Time Out Principle is very scriptural. We see God putting people in Time Out continuously when they chose to follow their own sinful natures, rather than follow His ways. Think about Israel as a nation, 40 years of Time Out in the wilderness before they were allowed into the Promised Land. Read Psalm 51, written by King David after his Time Out following the adultery with Bathsheba.

When you recognize the sin in your child's heart, one of the most loving things you can do is to explain in a way that is age-appropriate to him orher, "(name the offense) is one of the things that God calls sin. When we choose to sin, we choose to separate from our friendship with God." This explanation will give the child - or teenager - a "God-consciousness" and an understanding of the separation principle of sin. Until she recognizes hersinful nature, she will never recognize her need for a Savior.

Ask God to break your heart for the things that break the heart of God --sin breaks His heart. Call sin what it really is: SIN SEPARATES.

THIS WEEK:
Pray specifically that God will show your child the reality of his sinful nature.
Pray for your own heart, asking God to immediately convict you of unconfessed sin in your own life.

EXTRA EXERCISE-
Read Psalm 51. List everything you learn in regard to God'sreaction to our recognition of sin.

1 John 1:9 - Praise Him for His faithful promise of forgiveness. God never overlooks our sin. His discipline is security in His love (Hebrews 12;6)