Look To Me

Let all the world look to me for salvation!

For I am God; there is no other. . . .

The people will declare,

“The LORD is the source of all my righteousness and strength.” Isaiah 45:22, 24

GOD IS THE ONLY GOD. There is no other. And that includes us. Sometimes as parents we operate as if our children’s salvation and sanctification are all up to us —that it is our rules, our diligence, and our wisdom that will shape them into all God intends for them to be. But we can’t be God to our children, as much as we might like to be. We can’t save them. We can’t supply them with everything they will ever need. We can’t promise that we will never fail them or leave them. We don’t have the ability to see all that is going on inside them in the present or all that is ahead for them in the future. We can’t be the source of all of their righteousness and strength.

But we can show them what it looks like to turn to God for salvation —not just at one time in our past, but in an ongoing way. We can allow our children to overhear when we call out to God to be saved from sins like lust, greed, or selfishness. We can confess before them that our righteousness is marred by apathy, deceit, and hypocrisy, which is why we need to be covered by the righteousness of another.

So while we can’t be God or force our children to look to God, we can show them how to live in radical dependence on God rather than pretend that we have it all together.

Lord, you are the source of all of our righteousness and strength. You are the God who saves. And so, Lord, we look to you, not only for our salvation but for the salvation of ________. Help us to remember that you are the only God. We simply can’t be God in ________’s life. As you hold out your salvation to all who will look to you, will you cause ________ to look to you? Would you give ________ a heart that longs for the righteousness only you can provide and the strength that you supply?