Your children will make thousands of decisions in their lifetime. Often their choices will be informed by their priorities. What is most important to them will often sway their decisions. While you want their top priority to be pleasing God, if you aren’t careful, other things can creep in ahead of God. There is a fun family devotional you can do to begin a discussion about priorities.
Before you begin you will need the ingredients to make a lentil stew. You can use any recipe, but this one claims to be somewhat authentic. (Note: If your children aren’t used to these spices, you might want to adjust the recipe slightly.) For extra fun, have your kids help you make the stew. While you are eating, share with them the story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25:29-34.
Ask your children what would have made Esau give up something as important as his birthright for a simple bowl of stew. Point out that Esau would have gotten twice the inheritance of Jacob as well as being the ancestor of Jesus (whether he knew it or not) had he not traded it for a bowl of stew. Ask your children what Esau’s priorities were when he made that important choice? Was he taking a short view or a long view of life when he traded it away?
Explain to your children that if your priorities aren’t right, you will often choose what seems best in the moment. You forget to think about how the decision might impact you over time. Often that leads to making poor choices. Explain that in your family, the top priority is pleasing God. You hope that it will always be their top priority, too. Ask them to think of choices people make that they might make differently if their top priority is pleasing God.
End your meal and conversation with a pray, asking God to help your family always keep pleasing Him as your top priority. Pray that he helps you make wise decisions by always considering what He would want you to do. Revisit the topic of priorities, short and long term thinking and making godly decisions regularly. Help equip your kids to make godly decisions their entire lives.