Surpassed By Our Children

Today’s Bible readings are 1 Samuel 1:1-2:21, John 5:1-23, Psalm 105:37-45, & Proverbs 14:28-29

 

1 Samuel 2:20-21

²⁰ Before they returned home, Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you other children to take the place of this one she gave to the Lord.” ²¹ And the Lord gave Hannah three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.

The story of Samuel’s birth is one of pure miracle. His mother was barren up to the point of his birth. She was made fun of by others because she had never had a child. They used it to humiliate her. She cried out to God & God heard her plea. She committed to give the son to the work of the Lord if He would answer her cry. God heard her cry & He honored her by giving her a son.

Hannah did what she had promised to do. She gave the son back to the Lord. In return, God blessed her with more children. Yet, Samuel grew in the presence of God.

This is what we desire for our children. We want our children to grow in the presence of the Lord also. The awesome thing is that we don’t have to give our kids away in order to make sure that this happens. I know that some of you were hoping that I would give you permission to drop your kids off at the church & come back & pick them up when they are 18, so that, they could grow up in the presence of God. Well, that’s not going to happen. It is also not needed. You can see to it that your kids grow in the presence of the Lord.

Remember, we are in a new covenant with God. It is a better covenant. It is better in the sense that we all have access to His presence now. We are all priests unto the Lord. The veil has been torn.

 

Matthew 27:51-52

⁵¹ At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, ⁵² and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.

The idea behind the veil being tore from top to bottom shows that it was God, from above, who tore it. It was His will to open it up so that we could all have the same access to His presence that the high priest had. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, the payment for sin & guilt has been paid once & for all. Through that blood we can come into His presence.

This is great news. Now we, just like the high priest of old, can experience the Holy presence of our God. We don’t need to leave our children in the temple in order for them to grow in the presence of the Lord. We can raise them in our own homes & be carriers of the presence of the Lord. PRAISE GOD!!!

I want to talk about some simple things that we can do to create an atmosphere where our kids will grow in the presence of God.

1.      Take them to church.

Never underestimate that power behind your influence. Going to church matters. Your kids seeing you worship & enter God’s presence matters. It models to them the way we should live our lives. It positions them to do the same.

2.      Make your home a holy sanctuary.

Don’t allow trash to be watched on television. Don’t allow trash to be listened to on the radio. Remember, garbage in = garbage out.  Do your best to make sure that your home is free of violence & drama. No cursing allowed!  This may sound like old fashion legalism, BUT IT IS NOT!!!  It is personal holiness. AND THIS STILL MATTERS!

3.      Teach your children to worship.

Try singing with your kids. By singing I mean Christ centered songs. My girls love to sing with dad. We can sit & sing together for lengths of time & never get bored. It also softens their hearts & keeps their hearts soft. It teaches them how to enter His presence.

There are other things that may work, if they do, use them. The point is that we can make sure that our kids grow in the presence of God too. When this is our aim, our kids will grow to be used of God in great ways. My prayer is that they will far exceed all of us in their relationship with Christ. I hope that they will know Him better than we do & do even more for the kingdom than we have. That is what happened in Samuel’s life as result of growing up in the Lord’s presence. It can be true for our kids also. AMEN!!!

Pastor Richard Schlotter