Isaiah 11:6-9 “6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. 7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

BEAUTIFUL SCENE

This is a great passage to read to your children. Can you imagine this scene one day? Look at the cast of characters, especially the normally hostile and aggressive ones. We will see wolves, leopards, lions, bears, cobras and vipers. Then the meek ones are the lamb, young goats (so appropriately named kids, lol), little boy, cow, ox, nursing child and weaned child. Two very different groups. One hostile and the other one meek and gentle.

One day these groups will live together in perfect harmony without any desire to harm each other or flee in fear. Why can’t we live that way now? Because we live in the presence of sin which affects even the animals. This is a perfect passage to share with your kids (not the baby goats, lol) the next time they get into a fight with their sibling or a friend. It’s a great passage to share the next time they witness two dogs fighting or a dog/cat fight. These incidents will all cease one day.

But remember, that is possible only because of the absence of sin. We live daily with the inherited sin nature, which is only conquerable through Jesus. Your children need to know that they can walk in peace with others through His power. That does NOT guarantee that others won’t try to attack them, but we can determine our response if we surrender to His control daily.

Don’t you want to live in peace? Wouldn’t you like to live in perfect harmony with your spouse and children? It is possible, if you all surrender. I know I can’t do it on my own. I can’t last one minute. I tell people all the time that the ONLY thing good about me is Jesus. I am pretty sure that is true for you too. Am I right? So, let Him reign and let yourself drain. Hey, that rhymes!