“Children become what you raise them to become.
You cannot determine their salvation; you don’t have that much responsibility,
but neither can you fatalistically ignore your responsibility and say
‘Oh well, God’s going to do what he’s going to do” …
because God does His work through instruments —
and parents are those instruments.
Train your child to honour you and obey you. Life is deadly dangerous to children.
If they get to the age where they become accountable to God
and they haven’t been parented in the instruction and discipline in things of the Lord,
then life becomes even more dangerous.”
– John MacArthur
“This is a hard time to be a pastor,” said my 14 year old, as she set the table for dinner, as she pondered some current events regarding Christian pastors in North America.
[Mothers, don’t you find the best opportunity to just chat and hear what is going on in your children’s mind and hearts through the mundane tasks of life? You don’t need to go out on special dates … you just need to be available for when they are ready to open up to you and talk. Be around, mothers. Be present.]
“It reminds me of John Paton’s story,” she said, relating the historical tale of the dedicated missionary, the eldest of 11 children in the 1800s.
I nodded, as I strained the potatoes for dinner. Yes, we certainly have had it easy for so long. Christ-followers are so comfortable in our fancy and temperature controlled churches, lovely, ear-pleasing worship with smooth music and well-led songs … but, are believers ready for a true test of faith? Collective worshiping with the saints has been a challenge for the past year in our area, but through all of this, we have seen that the church building does not contain or make up the church body. The church body is not a building, but a unified group of believers, willing to follow Jesus no matter the cost.
Heavy thoughts have been in my mind for the past year. How much do children need to know about world-wide events? How much do I tell the older ones, without taking a sweet childhood away from the little ones?
My husband and I are doing our best to keep the world out of our home – to have peace, good times and memories made, a regular home life. However, we are aware of the current events, the ‘war’, the church’s struggles right now. We do need need to fear the future; we need to trust in our Holy Father.
I have met some families who are frightened to have babies in this current time. To this I would say, what if Moses’ mother decided she should not have a baby during their enslavement to the Egyptians? She did not allow fear to hold her back- her baby boy was saved and become the Deliverer of the enslaved Hebrews. Yes, I am sure you know the story.
And let us remember Esther … she was a Israelite living under a corrupt government, raised for “such a time as this” … a young woman who did not shirk her duty to God and stood up against schemes of death.
And where would we be without the strong and bold historical story of Daniel, that young inspiring boy, taken captive … living life under the a godless reign … standing up for what he believed, even in the face of death.
All those little fresh faces, curious minds brimming with questions, eager little minds – they were made for such a time as this. It is very important, as parents, to ensure we are filling their minds with Scripture, godly morals and the knowledge of when to stand and for what to stand. In the past, I have encouraged the children to ‘pick every bean in the garden’ as if it were the Great Depression. I have always told them to memorize as much Scripture as they can as one day, they may have Scripture taken from them. Let’s store up as much Scripture and Biblical teaching as possible in their fresh, lovely minds.
Do not be afraid to raise children for God. Do not fear bringing a baby into this world. Instead, be encouraged. God has each little one planned. We, as parents, were called to raise up these particular children at this particular time in history. Our children were destined by God to live in this time.
What an incredible and weighty honour to raise up Esthers and Daniels for the King.
by Gigi
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