Ready to Launch: Preparing Your Children for God's Mission
Read this excerpt from a Bible study that shares how to apply Jesus-centered parenting in a child-centered world
We
all have dreams … dreams for our careers, our homes, our relationships,
and, of course, our children. What do you dream for your children? Do
you dream they will be academically gifted and graduate with highest
honors? Do you dream they'll find a spouse, be happily married and have
lots of grandchildren for you to love and spoil? If you're a Christian,
it's likely you have big dreams that God would do great things for His
kingdom through your children!First Samuel tells us the story of Hannah. While yet childless, Hannah vowed to the Lord that should He bless her with a son, she would "give him to the LORD all the days of his life" (1 Sam. 1:11). Scripture continues to tell us that she does, in fact, bear a son and as soon as she was able, Hannah brought her son, Samuel, before the priests. In the verses above, many versions of the Bible use the term "given" rather than "lent." The term given seems to carry a little more weight, perhaps seems a little more permanent.
If the primary purpose of having children is to prepare them for God's mission, wouldn't we all be wise to have the same mindset and attitude as Hannah? Isn't the willingness to "let go" the first step toward allowing God to use your children? As a mom, I can't imagine taking my young child to the nearest church and leaving him there!
Perhaps
you're thinking, Of course we want God to use our children to do
whatever is needed to build His kingdom! What a privilege that would be!
But have you seriously considered the what-ifs? What if that meant they
were called into full-time ministry? That's no big deal, you say. What
if it meant that full-time ministry took them to a foreign land? What
about a hostile foreign land? What if it meant they have an incurable
disease but this disease would allow them an incredible platform through
which they could share the gospel? Does it still sound so great?
Remember, according to Psalm 127, children are like "arrows in the hand
of a warrior." For an arrow to be launched it must be released. So too
we must release our children to the perfect plans of God knowing He
cares for them far more than we do.This article is excerpted from Ready to Launch. © 2014 J.D. and Veronica Greear. Published by LifeWay Press®. Used by permission. Read the complete first session for FREE.
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