Proverbs 23:4-5

“Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for [riches] certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.” (KJV)
“Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.” (NASB) 

The Birds

In the movie Rio, Blu is a blue macaw with a human friend, Linda. Blu is the last male of his kind, and he is sought out by an ornithologist from Brazil, Túlio, who intends to take the bird back with him to save the species. Linda is convinced by Túlio to travel to Brazil with him and to take Blu to meet the other bird.

While they are there, Blu and the female macaw, Jewel, are bird-napped and sold to three men who are bird smugglers. The leader of the group plans to sell the birds for an insane price and therefore become rich.

A very long journey takes place to try and get back to Linda, and Blu and Jewel escape and everything turns out just fine. However, the thieves didn’t plan on their way of income literally flying away from them. After all, the birds were locked up in a cage!

The verses

It’s like this movie was made for these verses! The thieves were so concerned with their wealth, they didn’t stop to consider losing it all even when they thought they were set and everything was working to their advantage.

When you have wealth, do not set your eyes on it and continue to weary yourself to get more. Money is losing its value at an alarming rate, and even the wind can carry it away if you are not careful.

Don’t forget that your wealth may just fly way. Instead, consider these verses:

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” -Matthew 6:19-21

Proverbs 22:6.

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” 

Being Good Parents:

On March 25, 1995, I married my best friend, Liza Woods. Right from the beginning of our relationship, we both knew we wanted to have many children. And so, you can imagine how excited we were six months after we got married when we discovered that Liza was pregnant with our first child. Yet, along with that excitement came a sense of the awe and responsibility of raising children. What did we know about being good parents? What if we made some mistakes and totally messed up our kids?

It was then that we were thankful for this wonderful promise from the Word: If we as parents will do our part in training up our children in His ways, then He has promised to hold them on the straight and narrow path. Philippians 1:6 says, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Today, we have four amazing children aged 10-17).

My children – Caleb, Hannah, Tori & Austin – who love the Lord!

The Job of Parents:

Our hope and prayer is that our children will grow up to know Jesus personally, experience the love of God, and serve Him with all of their hearts. But what can we as parents do to ensure that will happen? The answer of course is in the Bible: “And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart… And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.” (Deut. 6:5-7).

Unfortunately, we have this Sunday school mentality in the North American church that says, “I will just bring my kids to church, and send them to Sunday school, and I will let the church teach them about God.” However, if parents think that one class once a week is going to help their children to know God, then they are mistaken. Children spend approximately 35 hours a week in school, and countless hours watching television and playing video games. If parents aren’t taking the time to teach their children about God on a daily basis, then they are going to lose the battle for the souls of their children.

The Challenge:

Don’t misunderstand what I am saying here. I believe firmly in the importance of children’s ministry in the church, and believe that the church must come alongside of families to help them train their children. But this cannot take the place of regular instruction in the home. Pray for your children daily, and take the time to sit down and teach them God’s Word. Commit to doing family devotions every day, and when you do, God’s hand will be upon them always.