Of Children and Choice

Of Children and Choice

This is part 1 of a two-part focus on children. Today’s post addresses the reality of children being miracles and blessings.

People understandably marvel at the Seven Wonders of the world such as the Roman Colosseum, the Pyramids at Giza, or the Machu Picchu, to name a few. These were ingeniously engineered and meticulously crafted by the hands people. However, the wonder of wonders in all of creation is human life. It alone was delicately and lovingly formed by the hand of Almighty God and is simultaneously a miracle and a blessing. 

Miracles

As we consider the phenomenon of human development from an earthly perspective, we understand that the sperm of a male having penetrated the egg of a female commences the miraculous generation of a human being. Musing about this, King David, seeing what no microscope could reveal, exuded, 

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth [or womb]. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them. Psalm 139:12-16

Jurisdiction

The miraculous (the creation of life being a part of it) yields the obvious conclusion that human life is entirely within God’s jurisdiction. However, He has entrusted the stewardship of children to their parents. 

Blessings

Like nothing else gifted to us, a child brings delight to the souls of loving parents. He or she represents a new beginning, and parents often envision a bright future, their hopes and dreams for the child. Sometimes the choice of a name is an aspiration or a hopeful prayer for their little one. 

Responsibility

Children are the greatest tangible blessings to parents. Psalm 127:3 asserts, “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD. The fruit of the womb is a reward.” However, with blessings come attendant responsibilities. And the more that we (parents) gladly embrace our responsibilities, these rewards increase in dearness to us because we invest something of ourselves, our hearts, our time, our effort, and yes, even our money. Herein lies the nature of faithful stewardship: the investment of oneself and dedication. The stewardship of these treasures requires intentional work in two areas: teaching and training. 

Teaching

Perhaps the premier passage of Scripture on teaching children is Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (along with its companion Ephesians 6:4). From these verses which refer to the entire Pentateuch, I simply want to draw out some things that we may or may not readily think about. Obviously, Duet. 6:1-9, denotes one who possesses true faith in the one true God. Along with teaching about true faith, parents would also teach their children history, telling of God’s mighty deeds and His faithfulness and care for them over time. Children would also learn about the Feasts and their significance. They would be taught those derivative laws and instructions, thus expanding their understanding of the 10 Commandments: loving their neighbor, principles in borrowing and lending money, care for the poor, private property rights, inheritance laws, being trustworthy and faithful, employer/employee relationships, moral purity, etc. They would be taught how to read and write, taught about creation and cosmogony, teleology, the nature of ultimate reality (the one true God), and so on. In daily life, each law or subject was explained in accordance with the child’s maturity and ability to comprehend it. 

One who can express the primacy of teaching our children much better than I is the Puritan clergyman and author, Cotton Mather. Below is the introduction of a work concerning his commitment to his children. It is entitled A Father’s Resolutions.

PARENTS, Oh! how much ought you to be continually devising for the good of your children! Often device how to make them “wise children”, how to give them a desirable education, an education that may render them desirable; how to render them lovely and polite, and serviceable in their generation. Often devise how to enrich their minds with valuable knowledge; how to instill generous, gracious, and heavenly principles into their minds; how to restrain and rescue them from the paths of the destroyer, and fortify them against their peculiar temptations. There is a world of good that you have to do for them. You are without the natural feelings of humanity if you are not in a continual agony to do for them all the good that ever you can. It was no mistake of an ancient writer to say, “Nature teaches us to love our children as ourselves.” A Father's Resolutions

Training

Teaching and training are two sides of the same coin. They both work together. To train means to teach a particular skill through practice and instruction. It is a “drawing along” as in walking with a person and modeling how something is to be done. I’m sure that a part of the Hebrew children’s training involved prayer, memorizing Scripture, and practicing self-government, as well as learning animal husbandry, care of the soil, sewing, etc. 

Proverbs 22:6, instructs parents to “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Training, which includes loving correction and discipline, instills lifelong habits which can lead to a tender, open heart toward God, respect for parents, and right relationships with others. As Susanna Wesley put it, “The child that never learns to obey his parents in the home will not obey God or man out of the home.”

Support

Dads and moms are not alone in their “work and labor of love”. God has supplied a wealth of support for them through His church. Fathers are instructed, “[N]ot to provoke [their] children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Likewise, in Titus 2:4, the pastor is exhorted by Paul to speak to the older women and “that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, [and] to love their children…”

Additionally, many churches have parenting classes and Sunday School and Wednesday night Bible classes for children and youth. These are in addition to the role that grandparents play in their grandchildren’s lives.

Godly Offspring

So, what is God’s heart in all of this? In other words, what kind of return does He desire from our stewardship? He seeks godly offspring. The faithfulness of husbands and wives provides security for their children and a foundation for godly living. And though we parents cannot make our children Christians, we can do our best to point them to Christ.

Conclusion

Though none of us are perfect parents, and although some have done better than others, yet, in our endeavors and prayers, we also desire godly offspring. Let’s start by thanking God for His miracles and blessings with all that these entail. 

As a note: Due to recent past and present events concerning children, it seems appropriate to remind parents that they are the rightful authority over their children. The civil government is simply to go no further than recognizing parental authority and respecting the jurisdiction of the home.

The only exception to their limitation is when there is criminal activity in the home.