Introduction:
I would like to read you a story out of Chicken Soup for the Soul written by Michelle Lawrence called “Almie Rose.” Listen.
It was at least two months before Christmas when nine-year-old Almie Rose told her father and mother that she wanted a new bicycle. As Christmas drew nearer,
her desire for a new bicycle seemed to fade, or so the parents thought. They purchased the latest rage, Baby-Sitter’s Club dolls, and a doll house. Then, much to their surprise, on December 23rd, Almie Rose said that she “really wanted a bike more than anything else.”
It was too late, what with all the details of preparing Christmas dinner and buying last-minute gifts, to take the time to select the “best bike” for their little girl. So, Christmas Eve came about and around 9:00 pm Almie Rose nestled in her snug little bed. Her parents could now only think of the bicycle, the guilt, and being parents who would disappoint their child on Christmas day.
“What if I make a little bicycle out of clay and write a note that she could trade the clay model in for a real bike?” her dad asked. The theory being that since this was a high-ticketed item and she is “such a big girl,” it would be much better for her to pick out the bicycle herself. So the father spent the next four hours painstakingly working with clay to create a miniature bicycle.
On Christmas morning, the parents were excited for Almie Rose to open the little heart-shaped package with the beautiful red and white clay bike inside along with the note. Finally, Almie Rose opened it and read the note aloud.
“Does this mean that I can trade in this bike that Daddy made me for a real one?” Beaming, the mother said, “Yes!”
Almie Rose had tears in her eyes when she replied, “I could never trade this beautiful bicycle that Daddy made me. I’d rather keep this than get a real bike” (84-85).
Parenthood! What an experience. Bringing up a child is so challenging, yet rewarding, if done right.
Parents are always worried about the right thing for their children. The right car seat and stroller, the right clothes, the right school, the right bike, the right friends, the right gifts, the right car, the right job, the right college, the right credit card, the right husband, or the right wife, the right house, the right everything to bring them up, except…yes, I said except…
You know, there is something about parents. They are always worried more about the right stuff for their children that, now listen, that they forget the right training... We parents get so wrapped up in raising our children in society that we seem to forget about raising them in God. I bet you’re saying to yourselves, “I bring my kids to church.” “We have prayer time before going to bed,” or “before each meal.” “We have a small devotion everyday.” That’s great, but is this raising your children in the Lord? Let’s do a little test.
Think to yourself now. How often do we parents ask our children how school is going? Raise your hand. How often do you ask how homework is going? Now, no hands, just think about this next question. How often are we asking our children how their relationship with God is?
My point is we tend to ask more about school studies, than Bible studies; more about the day at school, than the few hours at church. It’s mostly, “What did you learn today at school?” rather than “What did you learn today about God?” Or “Make sure you get your homework done or you can’t go out with your friends.” Rather than “Make sure you get your Bible study done, so you can share with your friends.” Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great if you are spending a great deal of time with your children and learning about their lives, but wouldn’t you rather help them learn to live so you can spend eternity with them? So how can we change this? How can we bring our children up in the Lord? Well, luckily the Bible shows parent’s how God wants children brought up. God reveals through His Word three particular duties for parents.
The first is:
I. Parent’s have a duty to teach their children about God. (Deuteronomy 6:7)
Turn with me to the fifth book of the Bible Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 7. It reads, “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
What is the “them” that this verse is talking about? Look at verse 5 and 6 where it states, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.” Going back to verse 7, “Impress them on your children.” Impress the commandments on your children. Love the Lord. Impress means to teach with repetition. Love the Lord. We must impress the commandments as soon as our children are old enough to be taught and repeatedly teach them throughout their lives. Love the Lord.
Love the Lord! So, how do we show our love for the Lord?
Well, John Gill, who was an amazing Bible Scholar that wrote an Expository, or Commentary on the entire Bible verse by verse writes for this verse, “God’s commandments; that they are to love him, fear him, serve, and worship him(Sec. “Commentaries”, Gill).” So loving Him goes along with fearing Him, serving Him, and worshiping Him. This is how we show our love for our Lord. This is what God wants us to teach our children.
Back to verse 7, “Talk about them when you sit at home,” talk about these commandments at home when you are at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Talk about them when you are having family time. Talk about them at home, “and when you walk along the road,” when you are taking a journey whether down the road or on a trail talk about these things. Use nature, God’s creation to stir up the conversation, “when you lie down and when you get up,” this is the perfect time to talk about these things. What a great way to start out the day and end the day, by praying with your children, teaching them to give to God there day. Folks, God wants us to always teach our children about Him. Teach them God’s teachings! Secondly, God wants us to train our children in Him.
II. Father’s have a duty to train their children in God. (Proverbs 22:6)
In Proverbs 22:6 it says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
What is the way our children need to go? In my studies and my experience, I found that this verse is literally talking about God’s way. God’s road! Just as we are teaching them God’s teaching’s, we need to train them to stay on that way, to stay on God’s road. Not only by telling them to do so, but by doing it ourselves, and setting the example! You see if we as parents stray from God’s road, our children will do the same. The only difference between staying on God’s road, and straying from God’s road is one letter, "R" as in our decision! It’s our decision to stay or stray from God’s road. Train your children to stay by doing it yourself, and when they get older they will do the same.
Look at 1 Samuel 1:28 it reads, “So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” This is Hannah giving her son Samuel to the Lord and His teachings. Look on in 2:26 it reads “And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men.” As your children grow in the Lord they continue in that same way. Chapter 12, verse 2-3, “Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Who have I cheated? Who have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right.” As Samuel grew even to old age he was still on God’s road. Why? Because he was trained in it. He was given to God and His teachings!
It’s our duty to keep our children on God’s road. It’s not an easy duty, especially if you’re not on the same road as your children. Mistakes might be made, but be patient.
This brings us to my final duty that God shows us in His Word.
III. Father’s have a duty to “nurture” their children through God. (Ephesians 6:4)
Ephesians 6:4 states, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”
The Webster’s dictionary defines the word “exasperate” as “to irritate or annoy very much; make angry; to intensify a feeling; aggravate (487).” No, no, no, no we parents do not ever do these things to our children, do we? This doesn’t mean pick on our children. It means frustrating them in our discipline without persistent love. The Life Application New Testament Commentary says:
“Paul wrote specifically to fathers because, in that culture, fathers were the absolute head of the home, with complete control and authority. For Paul to say they needed to treat their children as human beings and consider their feelings was revolutionary. As Christ changed the way husbands and wives related, so he changed the way parents and children related (830).”
As parents we need to bring up our children without provoking them. According to this verse “bring up” means to rear up to maturity; cherish or train; nourish (Strong’s and Vines, 1625, 1537, 5142). The verse says to bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. We know what this training is, but what is the instruction of the Lord? John Gill writes:
“instructing them in the knowledge of divine things, setting them good examples, taking care to prevent their falling into bad company, praying with them, and for them, bringing them into the house of God, under the means of grace, to attend public worship; all which, under a divine blessing, may be very useful to them (Sec. “Commentaries”, Gill).”
Bringing up our children in the instruction of the Lord means nourishing their worldly lives and nurturing their spiritual lives.
How many of you have ever owned a vine plant at home? Than you know that it was your responsibility to water it, to trim it, repot it if needed, and to train it to grow a certain way so it would not grow crazy. If you did all of these things except water it, what would happen? It would die. If you failed to trim it where it was dying, what might happen? It might die. If you did not repot it when needed, what might happen? It might die. If you did not train it to grow a certain way, what might happen? It might die by the things around it.
Conclusion:
Our children are more important than a plant, but we need to bring them up using the same analogy. We as parents need to nourish them, not with water but with God’s teachings. We need to trim them in the areas that are dying in order that they can learn from those areas and grow in them. We need to repot them every time their life starts getting a little dry. And we need to train them to grow a certain way by giving them God’s instructions and teachings, or the people and things around them will keep them from eternal life. Parents, we need to keep our children on track. At the same time we parents need to do the same. We need to get on track with God. Everyone please bow your heads and close your eyes. We’re going to pray, but before we do are you living according to God’s teachings? If not, raise your hand. Are you on God’s road? If not raise your hand. Are you setting the Godly example that God has set for you? If not, raise your hand. Are you satisfied with the way you are bringing up your children? If not, raise your hand. God has entrusted you to take care of children. Are you entrusting God to take care of you? If not, raise your hand. God is the ultimate Father. Ultimately is He your Father? If not, raise your hand. Have you given God all there is of you? If not, raise your hand. Now stand up and make your way up here right now.
Let us pray.
Works Cited:
Barton, Bruce, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda Taylor, and Dave Veerman. Life
Application New Testament Commentary. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2001.
Canfield, Jack, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen, ed. Condensed Chicken Soup for the Soul. Florida, 1996
Gill, John. The New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible. 1999. light.org/com/wen/view.cgi?book=deut&chapter=006&verse=007>. Gill, John. The New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible. 1999. light.org/com/wen/view.cgi?book=eph&chapter=006&verse=004>. Torrey, R.A.. Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Strong, James. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Nashville: Crusade Bible Publishers, Inc. ND. Vine, W.E., Merrill F. Unger, and William White, Jr. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1996. Webster. Webster’s New World Dictionary. USA: World Publishing, 1968.
