When I was 1st saved, I thought that surely there were lots of other born again Christians - somewhere, but that somehow I had just managed to miss them all my life except for a few encounters here and there across the years. I'd gone to church every Sunday but had never heard the gospel preached and had never met anyone that lived differently from the rest of the world. It seemed so strange.....The Lord did make sure that I met some good solid Christians shortly after that though, so I was very happy then. But one thing bothered me... why weren't the children being raised differently then the way the unsaved raised theirs????
Mine were all grown by the time I was saved, except for Jenn who was a teenager, so I couldn't very well start over, but her last few teen years were most certainly different then those of my other children!
What bothered me most though was that we (we being those of us who are saved) taught our children carefully from the time they were born to avoid danger like fire; not to play with matches, not to touch a hot stove, not to go into the street, to look both ways before they crossed the street, etc. We were careful to make sure that we protected them and taught them to be as safe as possible, which is good and what we should do....but we didn't teach them about the biggest danger to them of all! That danger was/is totally ignored for some reason. We failed to teach them about Satan who's greatest desire is to destroy their lives and kill them because he hates them so much. Why???
I used to imagine what it might have been like if I'd been saved before my children were born. Teaching my children from the time they were at my breast that they had an enemy who hated them and wanted to hurt them as much as they could and teaching them how they could stay safe from Satan and his demons and that ultimately the only true safety was in Christ. Teaching them about Satan's schemes so they wouldn't fall for them; warning them that their emotions, their flesh, would betray them if they didn't have Jesus in their hearts and that they needed God's Word in their hearts and minds all the time to protect themselves from their enemy. I bet that every child would be eager for the protection of Jesus and would grow up wanting Him in their hearts and would make that transaction with Him just as soon as they were able to fully understand what was required of them.
As I continued to grow in my faith though, I realized that there was something else we failed to teach our children. We were good at making sure they went to school, got good grades, and encouraging them to further their education so they'd do well in this world, but we didn't do anything to ensure that they'd do well in their next life! We just hoped they'd make it to heaven and that was good enough. But what if we'd had that attitude about this life, and just hoped they'd make it to elementary school? If we did that, and they wound up doing well in this life anyway, it wouldn't be because of our teaching. So why do we do that with their eternal lives which are far more important then this life????
By the time I realized this, even Jenn was grown and married and had her own children. So there wasn't much I could do for my kids, but I was determined to do my best by my grandchildren.
Can you imagine though what it might look like if we did teach them that as well? If we taught them from birth to focus on eternal values instead of earthly ones and taught them to strive for eternal rewards instead of earthly ones? If we literally taught them as Jesus told us, to store up treasure for themselves in heaven and how they could do that? If we stressed the importance of their life to come over this one?
If we mothers did as the Lord commanded and literally taught our children about their enemy and how to stay safe from him; about Jesus who could save them from their enemy and from their sins and give them a wonderful life, and about how to store up treasure in heaven to ensure the best eternal life possible, we could raise up another Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Peter, John, Paul, Deborah, Ruth, Mary, Elizabeth, Priscilla, or Martha!
What an awesome task the Lord has given to mothers! It's the most important job in the whole world. All mothers want the best for their children, but we're blessed in that we know that this life is no where near the "best". The best is our life to come!
I wish I could go back in time and raise my children this way...the way the Lord tells us to in His Word. To talk to them about the Lord and His ways from the time they were at my breast, to speak of His wonders, His love for them and His great plans for them, to teach them to beware of their enemy, how to recognize the enemy of their souls and how to be protected from him and how to store up treasure in heaven for themselves. To teach them to store up His Word in their hearts and minds, to reflect on it continually, to make it part of them and to apply it to their lives for His Word is life for them. Of course to do that, I would have to make sure that all that was first true for me so I could model it for them.
What a challenge! And you know what? During the Millennium, I think we'll finally see parents raising their children this way. I can't wait to see how those children turn out! The thing is, we don't have to wait till then. Those of us who are blessed enough to be saved when they're young and just starting to have children, can raise their children God's way now. I can guarantee you that God will bless you for it and that your children will rise up and call you blessed as well and you will all know that you've done all you could with God's help to store up treasure for yourselves in heaven so that your life all through eternity will be a rich one! It's too late for me, but I can do my best to encourage my children now and help teach my grandchildren that we're different from the rest of the world. That we have a fantastic future waiting for us and that we have the opportunity now to make it an even better future!
