Both my husband and I were blessed to be raised in Christian homes. Our parents read God’s Word to us, taught us Bible songs, took us to church, and set our feet on a good path. God worked in our hearts even as very young children, bringing each of us to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus before we were 10 years old. But things do not stop with US having that complete peace that we will one day be in heaven with our Savior. We now have a CHILD who needs to be saved! Psalm 145:4 “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.” It is up to us, as parents, to share the Lord with our baby girl.
But isn’t she way too young to understand? This past week, I saw my 5-month old smile back at a smiling commercial, and cry during a movie scene where two adults were yelling angrily at each other. Do children pick up on emotions, even as babies? Yes, they do! They can tell if you are happy or annoyed about going to church. They can see you nodding your head in agreement, or ignoring the preacher. They notice if you’re using your hymnal or not even singing the songs. What are you conveying to your children about God? In Deuteronomy 6:6-7, God tells His people, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” All day long, we have the opportunity to share Jesus with our little ones!
As Christians, we must understand how important it is to influence a child for the Lord while they are very young. In Deuteronomy 31:12-13, the Israelites are told to “Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God . . .” The book of the law was being read to instruct even young children in the fear of God. In the Lord’s eyes, they could not be “too young” to hear the reading of the Scriptures. They were so little that they “have not known any thing”, but yet it was clear that they needed to hear God’s Word!
If we do not tell our children about Jesus, then the devil will step in and tell them about himself. I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Why should our children be present during movies with screaming and scary images? Why should they be taken through a “haunted house”? Satan wants to win the victory! Will your babies and young ones hear Bible songs in your home? Will they listen to Bible stories? Or will they grow up gravitating to the creepy and Satanic? Will they enjoy the evil and the bizarre? Isaiah 54:13 declares, “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” Are your children being “taught of the Lord”? Will they grow up having the peace of God?
These thoughts have very much been on my heart, this past week. A Sunday night sermon on “The Christian Home”, drove it even deeper. My smiling baby girl has not yet given her heart to God. Shouldn’t her daddy and I strive to lead her to Him? Shouldn’t that be our highest goal in raising her? Then may the words of God lead our home. May beautiful Christian music fill our home. May Christian love surround our home. And may each of our little ones learn to “love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
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