Introduction:
Some jobs are more important than other jobs. I think the importance of a certain job has to do with who is asking you to do it.
In Genesis 24, Abraham, well advanced in years, is giving to his servant the most important job that servant could ever do. Abraham’s son, Isaac was 40 years old and Abraham did not want him to marry any of the woman of Canaan, but a woman from the land of his kindred.
He commissioned this servant to, “go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac” (Genesis 24:4).
I am sure the servant was a little nervous about this commission and so he asked Abraham, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” (Genesis 24:5).
Then Abraham eased the servant's mind when he said, “But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there” (Genesis 24:8).
We all know the rest of the story. The servant found a young woman by the name of Rebekah and she became the wife of Isaac.
I mention this because the Lord and I have come to an understanding along these lines. I have been wrestling about this for a long time and when I read this passage this week, God really spoke to my heart. God impressed upon my heart two very important principles;
1. I am not responsible for anybody’s response to the message I might be giving.
2. Also, you are not accountable to me for what you do or do not do with a message. There is a higher authority.
My responsibility is to lay, as best I can, a scriptural foundation and then apply it to our situation today. After that, my responsibility is gone. I do, however, spend a lot of prayer asking God to move and work in the hearts of the people.
Theme…
The most important job anybody could ever have is raising a family. We have a divine trust in this area and will be held accountable to God for our success or failure.
I hope it is not redundant for me to say that the American family is in a radical decline. I will point out that this is not an accident but rather a well thought out plan of the enemy, our Adversary.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8).
This “roaring lion” looks at the family unit and salivates with unholy desire to destroy. He has been remarkably successful in destroying the family unit. Even among Christian families, the enemy has been rather successful.
In the Christian family his MO is to “divide and conquer.” In order for him to conquer the family he has to divide that family and he does not care what it takes or what he has to use to divide the Christian family.
As we look at the birth of John the Baptist, we get a little insight to the spiritual dynamics required to maintain a high level of spirituality in the family.
Wherever we are in life we are obligated to bring our life into harmony with the Scriptures regardless of cost.
I. First, let me point out that there has never been a generation that has failed more miserably in this area than the present generation.
This is not an accident but a deliberate attempt of the enemy to destroy the family. My observation is that it has not taken very much to undermine the family unit in our country. So much is against the family it takes a strong family to hold its ground.
Let me outline some of the elements that have been used to undermine and destroy the family unit in America.
1. A surrender to the gods of this generation. I think I can divide this surrender into two areas.
There is the god of entertainment. Never has a generation been more addicted to entertainment than this generation. This includes music, movies, concerts, carnivals and the list goes on and on. The spirit of entertainment rules in our country today, no question about it. What it brings with it is the spirit of boredom. The effect is that unless you are busy, busy, busy all the time you become bored.
Music is everywhere and we are addicted to it. You can’t call someone on the telephone without music playing in the background.
Worshiping the god of entertainment has brought to our country and to the people of our country a serious addiction to nonsensical movement and activity.
There is also the god of social approval. We live in an age of social networking. This generation is more concerned about social approval than any other generation before it. The clothes they wear, the food they eat, the places they go, the music they listen to and the list goes on and on.
For the most part, they will not do anything until their social network approves them.
We have surrendered to these gods in this country.
2. Another reason we have failed in this generation is that we had become too busy really to honor God. We are more than happy to give Him the leftovers, if there are any left. However, we are not willing really to honor God in this country.
There was a time in our country where businesses were closed on Sunday, because it was the Lord’s Day. Now, if a business is closed on Sunday it is an oddity. There are few, but not many.
The truth is God does not fit into our busy schedule and so we take the attitude that it really does not matter.
3. This generation also has neglected the important issues while focusing on issues that really do not matter. Do not get me started on this. There are so many illustrations of this I do not know really where to begin. This generation’s values are completely out of sync with reality. We have become obsessed with the superficial. “Who killed J. R. Ewing?”
This generation has failed in the areas that are most important. No other generation has developed more technology and inventions than this generation, when it comes to the essential elements of life they have failed.
“Lo, this only have I found, that God has made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions” (Ecclesiastes 7:29).
Many are infected with a spirit of deep dissatisfaction.
II. Now we come to the passage today. Zechariah and Elizabeth are role models when it comes to the
Christian family.
It is interesting that Luke gives a lot of background information concerning the family John the Baptist was born into. Obviously, he is stressing the importance of the family unit and the spirituality that needs to control the family. None of the other gospel writers give us this detail. We are thankful to Luke for giving this to us.
As role models for us today, Zechariah and Elizabeth establish some important ingredients for the family and to keep the family in spiritual fitness.
1. Zechariah and Elizabeth took their instructions from God and was receptive to these instructions. (Luke 1:18-24).
I think it is rather significant that God gave these instructions first to Zechariah. We all know his response at the time. He was not easily convinced
This points out an important aspect of the family unit. The father is to be the spiritual leader in the home. He is to receive from God the instructions necessary to guide his family in spiritual prosperity.
This only shows why the enemy focuses on the father. If the enemy can get the father away from this responsibility, it places the entire family in a spiritually vulnerable atmosphere.
Zechariah was a priest. This emphasizes the biblical truth the father is to be the priest in the home. The father is to lead that family in the pathway of spirituality. It is the father’s responsibility to set the spiritual tone of the family.
If, for some reason whatever, there is no father in the family the burden rests upon the mother. This is where we as a congregation need to unite ourselves in prayer and support for the families in our church.
2. Zechariah and Elizabeth worked as a team. They were a united front and worked in absolute harmony. All the enemy has to do is put a division between the father and the mother and he has made that family vulnerable to vicious spiritual viruses that will damage the home.
In verses 57-63, we see that they were in agreement although it was contrary to the community around them. More often than not people succumb to outside pressures.
3. Zechariah and Elizabeth drew a sharp line between them and the world. Separation from the world is not a topic much discussed these days. The parents of John the Baptist knew how critical it was to keep him away from the world.
Unfortunately, Christians today do not understand that we had been called to a life of separation from the world. Consequently, children are succumbing to the gods of this world in unprecedented numbers.
If John the Baptist was to be what God wanted him to be his parents needed to keep him separated from the world.
I am not saying it is an easy job. It is not. But it is a job that needs to be done to the glory of God. The Bible says,
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
It does not guarantee success but it simply means that the early days of training (or non-training) in a child’s life will stay with him or her the rest of her life. Every adult is what he or she is because of his or her training as a child.
Some spiritual applications…
Let us look at the average schoolchild today. I did some research and found these figures. They do not apply to everyone but it is something we can look at to begin thinking about what can be done with our family situations today.
The average child in America spends:
32.5 hours in school each week
4.0 hours doing homework
14.0 hours watching TV
2.75 hours working on the computer
10.0 hours involved in extracurricular activities
63.25 hours per week in these activities.
This is a lot of time; more than a full-time job. I want us to look at this from a Christian perspective. All of these things can be good and beneficial to your children. I am not going to question any of them. Here is what I want to do. With all of the time your child gives to these activities how much time are they giving to God? And, does God really come first in their life?
My challenge. What if… and I am only offering this as a suggestion… we began teaching our children to put God first in their life? Of course, we talk about it all the time but we never give any practical example of how to do this.
What if we taught our children to tithe their time?
How would that look?
The average child spends 63.25 hours a week in school and extracurricular activities. One way to put God first in their life is to begin to tithe their time. This would mean they would give God 6.325 hours each week. That amounts to almost an hour a day.
You can object by saying my child does not have the time to give to God. I counter by saying then you are teaching your child that other things are more important to you than God.
Let me put it another way. Let us say you work at your job 40 hours a week. You can begin modeling putting God first by you tithing your time to God, which would be four hours per week. Are you doing that?
Your children will be modeling your priorities. Unconsciously you are teaching them what is a priority in your life. How are you faring along this line?
Allow me to give some examples.
1. Each week do you spend time together in family worship in church, especially at the Lord’s Table.
2. At least once a week you have family devotions together.
3. For those of you with children in the Word of Life program, when was the last time you checked to see if they were up to date with their Quiet Time?
4. An ongoing program of spiritual training in your home.
5. What about doing some kind of ministry outreach as a family?
Conclusion…
Could God trust you to raise a John the Baptist?
Guess what? He has.
As parents, we can make a difference in our children and grandchildren’s life if we model what it really means to be a Christian, separated from the world, honoring God in every aspect of our life.
And remember, God will never accept leftovers. If He is not the priority in your life, He is not in your life.
At the most, you will have your child 18 to 20 years. Those are the most important years of your child. The most important job you could have is to make sure that you adopt Zechariah and Elizabeth’s role model and train up your child in the spiritual disciplines that will be with them for the rest of their life.
Some jobs are more important than other jobs, but this job is the most important job you will ever do.
