Yesterday I gave my kids some sidewalk chalk and told them to go play. They covered the driveway in drawings and scribbles. They had a blast. (Best $1 ever spent).
However, when they came inside tiny chalk footprints lined the foyer, chalk handprint on doors and chairs. They literally left a mark everywhere they went… until it wore off. There was evidence of their time spent with chalk.
As I looked at the chalk prints all over my house… I thought about how easily that chalk spread, and they didn’t even know it. It was all over their hands, feet, and bodies.
That chalk is like our influence. Whether or not we know it, we are leaving our influence everywhere we go.
What influence are you leaving? Is it of godly character or worldly character?
In the last two months my husband and I have had the influence talk with our older children more times than I care to count. As they meet new people, have new experiences, and generally grow up, there is influence. My kids are learning most of the world looks like the world…even in places where you would think Christian… it’s the world. So, the question to my kids is “Are you the one being influenced or being the influencer?”
When you walk into a place, are you the one leaving behind chalk or is chalk being left on you?
If that chalk represent Christianity, are your spreading Christianity?
If that chalk represents worldly things, are you spreading the world?
What are you bringing home with you?
Parents, there is a war for our children’s hearts out there. Are you standing on the front lines with your kids, showing them that the Christian worldview is an accurate worldview? Are you spreading a Christian influence on them?
Or are you taking them to church on Sunday and hoping they catch the faith?
Seeds will be planted at church.
God can and will work with that.
But your influence is the most important thing in your child’s life. What does your chalk represent- Christianity or the world?
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:13-16