Did You Remember the
Kids?
Pastor Steve Nash
The Lord has
blessed my wife and me with seven children.
We had so many to look after when coming in and out of stores, homes,
churches, etc., only to discover that we had made the horrifying mistake of
forgetting one of the kids! It is a
frightening experience to pull in the driveway and discover you left a child at
someone’s home or back at the church.
It is
embarrassing to have someone from church pull into the driveway, with one of
our kids we left behind. They understood
because it probably happened to them in the past. I’m sure some of you have done the same. We finally got into the habit of counting to
seven and then continuing on to where ever we were going.
Our generation
needs to be more alarmed about the heritage we are leaving behind for our
children. What are we handing down?
What kind of torch are we passing on?
Are the hopes for our children better than what we have received from
our parents? I don’t think so. Consider the 18 Trillion dollar debt, the
social and moral landscape, the geo-political position of their country or the
spiritual condition of this nation.
Did you know
that:
·
85%
of our youth believe that there is no such thing as “absolute truth,” and that
all is relative?
·
Did
you know that 86% of our H.S. graduates have been sexually active?
·
Did
you know that 44% of our 8th graders have used illicit drugs?
·
Did
you know that 80% of our inmates grew up in a single-parent or no-parent
family?
According to
Psalm 127, children are a gift from God and blessed is the couple that has
many. Do American couples consider Children as a
gift from God? Since post WWII, children
have often been viewed as a burden, not a blessing. They are sometimes considered a financial burden. They are sometimes considered a hindrance to
the aspirations of the working mother (1950’s 8% double income, 2010 80% double
income). Children are sometimes
considered a disturbance to the “peace” of a couple. Divorce has been a “plague” upon our nation
more than any other disease.
More
children are scared by divorce than by drugs, promiscuity and sexual or
physical abuse. Some researchers on the
family feel that divorce is more damaging to a child’s heart than even sexual
abuse. Divorce is an assault, a
transgression, a horrible sin against the children we say we love so much. If that tragedy has visited your home there
needs to be forgiveness and healing and the grace of God.
Children are
a “gift from God” and if they have survived the most dangerous place on earth
(mother’s womb) there are so many more pitfalls along the road of young
life. More than 55 million children
have been lost to abortion since 1973!
Today’s child is forced to grow up too quickly. The child’s innocence and purity is being
attacked by society’s demoralization.
Today’s
child is forced to grow up too quickly.
What is invading and even permeating the mind of your child? What are the assaults upon your child’s
body? Is your child growing spiritually? Are they living out Prov. 3:5-6: “Trust in
the Lord with all…?!” The local church
can help provide the spiritual opportunities for your children, but it must be
going on in the home as well.
What can we
do to raise-up sons and daughters so that they might “increase in wisdom and
stature and favor with God and others?” Have
them! Teach them!
Show them! Win them!
Lead them to Christ! Pray for
them as Job did for his children. Direct
them to a better life than most experience by gaining and retaining God’s favor
over your family.
Our children
need not become part of the sad statistics I quoted earlier. Our children can
be different and make a difference as they grow in the grace and knowledge of
the Lord Jesus Christ. May God help us
to raise sons and daughters as arrows from the quiver who pierce the darkness
and turn many to righteousness. Let’s
not leave them behind because we have simply forgotten them!
