Thesis 74- We must see children as God does, as a blessing from Him.
It’s a staple of pastoral humor. You can pretty much count on some quip coming from the pulpit when summer vacation starts, bemoaning the burden of children home from school, and when it ends, celebrating the blessing of shipping children off to school. It makes me cringe every time. First, because it must be hurtful to the children. Second, because it reflects the ethos of the world around us and third, it belies the very Word of God. The Bible teaches that children are a blessing from His hand (Psalm 127). The Bible is correct, and we are wrong.
We are wrong on two counts. First, children are a blessing. They are expensive, financially, physically, emotionally. They have the power to break our hearts. They are sinners who sin against us, and against whom we sin. None of which changes the truth- they are gifts, blessings. We know this, of course, when we aren’t giving way to cultural flippancy. What parent would not give up everything to save his or her child? Yet, we grumble against them. We embrace sundry technologies specifically designed to make our marital unions barren. We send them away to be educated, and then grumble that they come back changed. Children, however, are blessings in more ways than we can count. They love us, encourage us, inspire us, help us. They receive our love, lap up our encouragement, seek to please us and leave room for us to help them.
The second point, however, is equally important. Children are a blessing, from God. Children do not come to pass by mere natural forces. They come from His hand. Which means we are fools to be anything but grateful. He not only gives every good gift, but every gift He gives is good. Even with the expenses, even with the broken hearts. They are gifts made by Him, given by Him, to us. Who would ever say to the God of heaven and earth, as He offers us a gift, “No thank you.”? Who would ever say, “Maybe later, thanks.”? We would, because we are fools.
Reformation requires of us that we re-form our thinking, our priorities, that we cast off the wisdom of this world that is nothing but foolishness. We receive the biggest bang for our reformational buck when those re-formations happen at the most foundational levels. There are precious few things more foundational than how we look at children and God’s relation to them. If we saw them for what they are, perhaps we’d not only want more of them, but want of them more. If we knew from Whom they came perhaps we’d strive more diligently to direct them back, to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:1).
Too often the church and the family see one another as competitors, for time, resources, energy. Both, however, are creations of the Lord of Creation. He calls us to love both and to serve both. And to give thanks for both. Gratitude may well be the very bedrock of Reformation. Lord, help us to give thanks.