Sunday, Mother's Day, I saw a dozen boys and girls come forward at church for the children's story from a fine Christian man, who has been doing this in the worship hour at church for years. The children were toddlers and up through the elementary grades of school.
The story they heard was about mother and God. A few of the older ones gave good answers to general questions the kindly man asked then. They were so open to the story he told.
In my senior adult mind, I thought forward 10 years for the children. Hopefully, because these were being brought to church and Sunday School by caring parents, they would have learned through lessons learned there, and at home; they will face life prepared to defeat temptations that will surely come.
Today, too many children are being handicapped and unable to make proper decisions when temptations come to them. For them the devastation from immoral activity appears too often in the news media: shootings, become teenage mothers, rapes, bullying etc.
"Train up a child in the way he (or she) should go, and when he is old, he will not depart there from." (Proverbs 22:6) This is the instruction for parents from the Bible. Without such instruction, anything that is selfish and feels good is indulged by children, and later in adulthood. This then becomes a cancer in the bodies and minds as character is formed. The children are victims, and there are other victims: parents, grandparents, teachers and even the community suffers.
Parents, God has entrusted to your care and love and instruction your children, like those at my church. Robert Browning, the English poet, wrote, "Thought is the soul of the act." This means that your life, the books you read, the entertainment you attend, the people with whom you associate, the TV you watch and permit your children to see, have their effect on your children's thoughts and then actions. You should no more allow sinful pictures and activities in your lives and homes for you children to see, as they have their effect in their minds and characters. You do not want garbage in your living room, nor in your children training.
Rearing children, as God intended, is a task, but the results are a blessing to the home, the family, the school, and community. We of the Warsaw churches are very willing to help you do your part with the children God has given to you. "Let the little children come to Me (said Jesus) and do not hinder them, for of such is the Kingdom of God." Mark l0:14.
See you and your children soon at church. We hope and pray.
