Let the little children come...to God's word

My oldest child, Scott, will be sixteen in two weeks, and I am so humbled by the grace of God, that he gave him to me and has grown him to into quite a remarkable young man. I will not boast about him as if he were something other than a product of God's amazing grace. That's not what my intent is today. I want to boast in God's faithfulness. I want to boast in the sufficiency of His word. I want to boast in His Son, Jesus Christ who alone gives life to the dead. And all these, I see in my son maturing into a man of God. I can truly say it was nothing I did or didn't do apart from God and pure mercy and grace, because prior to becoming a

Christian I knew nothing of being a woman, wife, or a mother. I was a young struggling single mother who had no direction and was drowning in my

sins. Yet, Christ was calling me to himself and when I heard the word of truth that saved my soul, the gospel, I was converted from death to life, from darkness to light, from a girl with a baby, to a mother.

My 3 year old son had witnessed the radical change in my life and even at this young age, God began to convict him of his sin as I preached the gospel to him. He said He wanted to repent from his sin and be born again. And immediately I saw a change in him, and so did the others who knew him! He came to me one day soon after, saying he wanted to get rid of all his Power Ranger toys because they did not glorify God! I didn't lead him to do this, it was all him. He was memorizing stories and scripture on his own. His play time was spent acting out bible stories and playing church (he was the preacher!). By no means am I saying my child didn't sin or do childish things, but he had a heart that feared God and was repentant. He was truly a blessing. I really thought this is how all children in the church were. The church I was attending was more like an over sized youth group. But as we began to have more children, I saw a difference, yet we all went to the same church. What was different? I believe that one of the things was the Word of God in the home. As a new christian I was hungry for God's word and read it constantly. We read the Bible together almost every morning and evening. I immersed myself and my son in it. And we grew.

It was a providential work of God's grace, I hadn't ever read a parenting book or had any real examples. Time went on, I married a man from church and God blessed us with 4 more children. We began trying to figure out our "parenting style". Frustrated with all the conflicting views in parenting books and not content with the results we saw in other children, we finally decided to look to scripture alone! And what do you know, IT was just what we needed! The confusion of whose method was the right one was lifted. We began to actually read together as a family on a consistent basis. We have gone through many seasons where we have read the scriptures together, on our own, and even struggled with reading the Bible consistently. But God has been so faithful to always bring us back, and to anchor us in the place of seeing our need for God's word daily. We continue to have regular times of family worship and are actively training our children. I have seen God work in our other children, all different, but I am so excited to see what He will do in their lives. I pray He gives us strength to be faithful with these little ones, as we cling to His word daily for our instruction in righteousness. And I thought it was my radical conversion that played the large part in Scott coming to faith! I now realize it was pure grace, the Word and God giving the increase.

I have read and do recommend some books on the subject of child rearing, but it is important that we remember God's word is the standard and not someone else's convictions. I myself like to glean from other godly men and woman but my husband and I are responsible to teach my children the way they should go. There's not one recipe for parenting, but the same ingredient must exist in each family, the WORD. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. As I bring my children to the Word, Jesus Christ, I trust Him to bless them as I cannot, by giving life more abundantly.

Do not under estimate the ability of your children to sit and listen to God's word. Start with small portions if need be. But consistency is key. Don't give up even if they show little to no interest, aren't understanding, or behave badly, this is the best opportunity for training them to sit still and honor God's word and you! Remember Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding". I have seen my own children, even at 2, be able to learn to sit for an hour. And then to our shock, recite a verse or catechism question that an older sibling was working on! Not to mention sing several stanzas of hymns like "Come Thou Fount" and "Be Thou My Vision"! Consistency is key!

Please don't leave it up to someone else to teach and preach the Word of God to your children, and especially only once a week. If you or I were to limit our spiritual lives to that meager diet, our heart would wax cold within us. Lead your little ones to the rock that endures forever. May God grant true repentance and may He receive glory through His son who alone is our righteousness. And may He raise up a generation that will proclaim His Name to the nations!

Sola Scriptura