What is it you want for your kids? I hope its more than they turn out happy, successful, and come home for the holidays.
A few weeks back in the blog “Have Some Kids,” I quoted Psalm 127:3-5. The passage that speaks of children being “arrows in the hand of a warrior” and blessed is the man “who fills his quiver with them.” The psalmist has chosen his metaphor. Children are weapons. But weapons for what? In short, children are weapons to advance the Kingdom of God.
That means they aren’t to be idols. That means they aren’t to be trophies. And on the other extreme, they aren’t to be left to find their own way. And they aren’t to be hastened out of the home so mom and dad can have their life back, either.
When they are young, they are to be protected. There is a culture war. Enemies abound and they want our children. And the chief enemy, the Prince of Darkness, would love nothing more than the scalp of kids raised in Christian homes. This doesn’t mean we cocoon them in bubble-wrap and lock them in the cellar. They need to be instructed and rightly educated. This happens at church. This happens around the dinner table. Two plus two equals four because God gave order to his world. Evolution is a joke. All to say, a Christian education is vital.
Then, when they get older, they join you on the frontlines, sword in hand. You fight side-by-side with them. This is one of the great joys of parenting. You protected and trained them when they were young, now you reap the fruit of having raised a warrior who shares your mission. It’s more than a little fun to chase down dragons together, your sons and daughters joining you in the war cry.
Then there is a third phase. We get older. We can’t go to battle anymore. But we continue to fight through our children, now adults, who carry the banner into war. And when they have children, their “arrows” are trained and their “quiver” becomes full. And the process begins anew.
Perhaps this visual is helpful. When the children are young, parents are out front, the children sheltered behind you; protected and receiving instruction. As they get older, you bring them to your side. You go off to war together. You fight along side one another. You have each other’s back. When you are old, they are now the tip of the spear. You do what you can behind them, encouraging and cheering them to victory.
To our younger families, what is it you want for your kids? Now is the time. It’s bootcamp. Perhaps you need to think bigger than you have been doing. Nice, well-adjusted kids is not the goal. Good grades for college aren’t either. You are after much more. Think eternally. Always think eternally.
For those with parenting regrets (which are all parents to degree), parenting doesn’t end when the kids leave. But the teaching methods do. You are now an adjunct professor, if you will. Still called upon to teach a class here, a class there. And always on the lookout to propose classes to your grown children. Looking for opportunities to teach and engage, hoping to backfill the missed lessons from years ago.
You are still to think big. You are not done. God is not done. You still have arrows in your hand; you still have a quiver of them. Warriors for the Kingdom of God is always our goal.
Pastor Rich Hamlin
February 24, 2022