Aiming Your Kids

AIMING YOUR KIDS

Psalm 127:1-5

INTRODUCTION:

A. Have you ever considered shooting your kids? Maybe I should rephrase that! Have you ever considered that you as a parent have the responsibility to shoot your kids in the direction they should go–similar to a hunter shooting an arrow in the direction it should go?

Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) says, “ Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Solomon expresses that same sentiment in Psalm 127–the passage of Scripture that we are going to study this morning.

As we are studying it I want you to remember just 3 words

Gifts

Go

God

That is the whole sermon in a nutshell.

READ: Psalm 127:1-5

B. I know that we’ve got some bow hunters in the congregation. I’ve never hunted with a bow and arrow, but some people find it to be a greater challenge than hunting with a shotgun. How many of you have actually hunted with a bow and arrow? How many of you have at least done some target practice? Shot into a bale of straw or a deer manakin or something like that? How many of you could recognize a bow and arrow if you saw one? (Good! That’s just about everybody)

There are four necessary ingredients to a successful bow hunt:

First of all there is the hunter, or the warrior

The person is the brains behind the hunt

Secondly, there is a bow, the power behind the hunt

Provides direction

Third, you have the arrows

They follow the directions of the hunter

Finally, there is a quiver to carry the arrows

At first the quiver may seem unimportant

A place of safety for the arrows

Keeps them from getting banged up and the hunter knows exactly where they will be when he needs them

Here’s the thing you need to remember–as long as the arrows are in the quiver, they are not fulfilling their purpose

With that in mind let’s re-read verses 3-5 in this Psalm written by Solomon

I> GIFTS

A. VS 3 - sons are a heritage, children a reward

1. They are like arrows in the hands of a warrior

2. In those days archers would try to find the straightest pieces of wood and put fletching on them so they would fly straight and true

a. Today, manufacturers go to great lengths making sure the arrows will fly in the intended direction

3. Arrows can be quite different from one another

a. They come in different lengths and sizes

b. Some have plastic vanes, others have actual feathers

c. They can have different tips

Some are designed for practice, some for competition, some for hunting

Some for hunting fish, some for birds, and some for large game such as deer.

B. It may be that Solomon really did know what he was talking about when he compared our children with arrows–because they are all very different

ILL> That’s one of the things we have always noticed with our own kids. When April and Alan were small we realized that they were like night and day. Actually, we realized this even before they were born.

When Kay was pregnant with April her stomach was more around. With Alan she it looked like she was carrying a basketball.

With April, Kay experienced very little morning sickness. With Alan Kay had morning sickness during the entire pregnancy.

April was a night owl while Alan went to sleep early

1. What really amazed us was that when Ashlee came along that she was completely different from the other two

a. Three children raised in the same household, but they are quite different from each other.

b. They are all unique

they have different interests and abilities

They have different personalities

c. Yet they are similar in several ways, as well

2. However, they are all God’s gifts to us

a. They each bring joy to our lives in differing ways

b. But, still, each of our children are special–just as your children are special to you.

C. But here is the sad part–many kids grow up today without a dad in their lives

ILL> Someone has said that fathers are like the Abominable Snowman–footprints everywhere, yet they’re hard to find.

Some 40% of children in America grow up without a dad in the home. For African-American children, that figure jumps up to 63%. And, for those living in our inner cities, as many as 7 out of every 10 children grow up without a dad.

1. Satan’s strategy has always been to remove the men

a. Unfortunately, there are a lot of men today that don’t want to be responsible for their actions

b. They want to have their fun, but they want it without strings