CENTRAL THOUGHT
He that begets a wise child shall have joy from him
TEXT: EXO. 2:1-10; PS. 144:11-12; EPH. 6:4
INTRODUCTION:
The child Moses was born in what could be described as “perilous times”. An order had gone out from Pharaoh, that all male children born to the Hebrew women were to be killed. Moses’ mother looked at her child and loved him. She saw, by faith, the potential in him for greatness and decided to take a stand (Heb. 11:23). Contrary to the king’s command that every child should be thrown into the river, she devised a rescue plan for her child. She laid him in a protective ark (or boat) and put it in the river, trusting that God would somehow deliver him. God heard her prayers, honored her faith, and did above all that she could ask or think (Eph. 3:20). Her baby was lifted from being the condemned child of a Hebrew slave to become a son of the palace. These days in which we live can equally be described as “perilous times” (2 Tim. 3:1-5). All the criteria listed by Paul in the above passages are very much with us today. There is much physical and spiritual danger in today’s world, and those who are young and inexperienced are often the most at risk. They can more easily be led astray by wrong ideas and teachings. Following the lead of their peers, they can be lured into all manner of acts and attitudes that may not only offend those in the society around the, but more important, bring upon them the wrath and eventual judgment of God (Rom. 1:18; 29-32).
What, then, should God-fearing parents do? are we to throw up our hands in despair and give up because we know that “… the whole worlds lies in wickedness) (1 John 5:19)? God forbid! Instead, we should take a stand for what we believe in.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
- To highlight the importance of effectively nursing our children;
- The make clear exactly what we should teach our children;
- To understand how we should nurse our children;
- To discover the consequences of failing to do so, and the benefits of raising children God’s way.
BIBLE TRUTH:
QUESTION 1) WHY IS IT IMPORATNCE THAT WE NURSE OUR CHILDREN EFFECTIVELY?
According to the Reader’s Digest Great Illustrated Dictionary “nursing” is “to feed (a baby or young offspring” at the breast; to care for or tend; to take special care of”.
Breast milk is the natural food a young baby needs for healthy growth. If given according to required needs, the young child grows and develops well. A nursing mother does not perform this duty to her child in a careless manner, whereas she holds the child close, carefully, and lovingly giving special attention to his comfort and other needs. As the child grows, he becomes able to move on to semi-solid (soft) foods and then gradually to solid foods, eventually being able to handle very hard things like bones. At each stage of his life, the mother (or caregiver) knows what foods are most appropriate for him to sustain healthy growth and development. A wrong diet produces an unhealthy, sickly child. Therefore, every effort is made to avoid this.
To nurse a child, therefore, would mean to feed a child with that which is appropriate for him in order to help him grow healthy and strong and to develop well.
Eph. 6:4 enjoins parents to bring their children up in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord’. The words “nurse”, “nourish”, and “nurture” are inter-related in that they all refer to caring for a young, tender, or helpless thing (a child, plant, young animal, an invalid) by feeding well and generally attending to others needs to produce healthy growth or recovery from illness. To nurture means to care for and to educate. Admonition means advice or counsel. Parents are therefore told to bring up their children by caring for them and educating them well. Education here does not mean only the type given in schools (as important as that may be). It means to teach the children how to live. We are to advise them, counsel them, encourage and support them. We are to show them what to do and how to behave. This is not to be according to our own wisdom, but as the verse says, “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” It must be according to His leading since He is the giver of the children in the first place (Ps. 127:3). A house not built by Him is vain (wasted) labor for the workmen (Ps. 127:1), so in order for us not to waste our efforts, we must follow the “Maker’s manual”. Pharaoh’s daughter returned baby Moses to the nurse (his mother) with the instruction “take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.” (Exo 2:9a). we are told that “…the woman took the child, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and she called his name Moses…” (Exo. 2:9b,10). Pharoah’s daughter was the one making it possible for the child to live; she had become the owner of the child, and the real mother was to obey her instructions.
In the same way, our children are given to us by God. We have given birth to them, but they truly belong to Him. His instructions on how to raise them are therefore the ones to be followed to achieve the best results. Any path we take must be weighed in the light of God’s instructions. If it is in line with these, then we can proceed and expect good results. If it is opposed to the instructions of God, then following such a way will bring results different from those that He intended.
Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” If, as God’s people, our desire is that our children will become what God wants them to be, we must train them up in the way He has instructed us. Whatsoever a man sows is what he shall reap (Gal. 6:7). Effectively nursing our children is the only way to obtain a healthy child.
QUESTION 2) WHAT SHOULD WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN?
As we have seen earlier, effectively nursing our children involves making a special effort to care for them, and to train or teach them how to live.
In Luke 4:4 we are told that “… man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God”. 1 Peter 2:2 says “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby”. Deut. 6:6-7 tells us “And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children…”. From these we see that we need to teach our children:
1.) God’s Word:
His word is able to make them wise unto salvation (2 Tim. 3:15). It is the “food” by which they can grow spiritually (1 Peter 2:2). It will be a lamp to their feet, and a light to their path (Ps. 119:105) obedience to God’s word will keep them from sin (Ps. 119:11) and will help to make their way prosperous and give them good success (Joshua 1:8). It will also make them able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:11, 14a; John 17:15-17). 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that the word of God is “profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness…”. God’s word reveals His ways and His perfect will for our lives. A good knowledge of God’s word is therefore indispensable in the life of any child of God.
2.) The fear of the Lord:
From God’s word we become aware of who He is, the God who made and owns the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1; Deut. 10:14). There is no other God above Him, and none beside Him (Deut. 4:39; 10:17). “He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgement: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He” (Deut. 32:4). We learn that He is holy and requires that we should be holy also (Lev. 11:44a; 1 Pet. 1:15,16). We come to know that He is a righteous judge and is no respecter of persons (Rom. 2:11;1 Pet. 1:17). We learn that He will render to everyone according to their deeds (Rom. 2:6; 1 Cor. 5:10). When we know and understand these things, we come to fear the Lord. We do not fear Him in the negative sense of the word, but we fear to offend Him or to be cut off from Him in any way. We come to understand that without Him we are nothing we have nothing and can do nothing at all. We fear to fall into His hands through sinfulness (Heb. 10:26-31). We have a deep awe and respect for Him, as well as a love for Him that makes us want to give Him our best because He has given his best for us (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9,10,19).
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10a). In Deut. 5:29 God said, “O that there was such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever.” This knowledge needs to be imparted to our children.
3.) God’s ways:
Deut. 5:33 says “Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.” Isa. 55:8-9 tells us that God’s ways are not our ways. We therefore need to teach our children the ways of God. The Bible shows us that God’s way is perfect (Psa. 18:30), righteous (Psa. 145:17), just, and true (Rev. 15:3). We need to teach our children that we are different from those around us who have not yet accepted salvation through faith in Jesus. We have been bought with a price, so we must live to glorify the One who has bought us (1 Cor. 6:19,20). Our way of life must be directed by God’s word (Psa. 119:9). We cannot afford to follow the leading of the world around us because although we are in the world, we are not of the world (John 17:16). We must help them understand that following the ways of the world is actually following the ways of God’s enemy the devil (Eph. 2:2; 1 John 5:19) and that friendship with the world is enmity with God (1 John 2:15-17; James 4:4).
We have been called out of the world to be a peculiar people unto our Lord (Titus 2:11-14; 1 Pet. 2:9).
4.) The will of God:
1 John 2:17 says “… he who does the will of God abides forever” and 1 John 5:14 says “… if we ask anything according to His will He hears us”. From the above we can see that knowing God’s will, and walking in it, brings His blessings into our lives. It is important that we teach our children to seek God’s will for their lives and to pursue it. God has a general will for all His people, that we be set apart from the world around us and be holy as He is holy (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 6:17-18). Jesus gave himself for us in order to make us holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:25-27). We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, yielding ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness, submitting ourselves to Him, and resisting the devil (Rom. 12:1; 6:13; James 4:7). As we walk with Him daily in this way, trusting Him moment by moment to give us the grace to be faithful to Him, He works in our lives, transforming us into the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18). The word of God shows us that God has known each of us before we were even born, and He has a specific plan and purpose for each life He has created (Jer. 1:5; Psa. 139:15,16). Within the body of Christ, He gives different gifts and calls us to use them for His glory and the good of the whole body. We as parents need, not only to prayerfully identify our own gifts and calling, but to do the same for our children. We must pray with them and for them, that God would reveal His perfect will for their lives in all things. We must teach them to seek His will for them in ministry within the body of Christ, in the work of evangelism, in their education and future vocation, and in their relationships with others.
QUESTION 3) HOW SHOULD WE NURSE OUR CHILDREN?
Deut. 6:6-7 tells us that for us to effectively nurse our children, we must first have all the things we want to teach them in our own hearts. We must make these things a part of us because we cannot give what we do not have. When we ourselves are familiar with God’s word, have the fear of the Lord, know His ways and walk in them, and continually seek His will for our lives in all things, it becomes easier for us to teach the same to our children. This does not mean that we have to be perfect before we can teach them. We do not need to be “spiritual giants”, we only need to be willing to do what God has commanded us to do. We should pay more earnest heed to the things we have been taught and are being taught. What we do know, we should teach our children, so that as we continue to grow in the faith, we can help them to do the same.
How should we do this teaching? We should teach our children at every opportunity in our daily lives: in season, out of season, at scheduled times, and when unexpected opportunities present themselves. We are to develop a close relationship with our children, spend time with them, and then use this time to teach them what they need to know. We need to always be conscious of this God-given responsibility. We cannot afford to leave the job of training our children to any other person. They can gain much from the pastors, children’s teachers, and other brethren, but the Lord has commanded that parent be the ones to “… bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Books, magazines, Christian radio and television programs, children’s camps and rallies, Sunday school, Bible clubs, and the like are all good and help the children to learn more about the things of God. Parents, however, are the most important influence in a child’s life, and there is a need for us to continually monitor, supplement, and if necessary, correct the things our children may learn from other sources. We should teach them by our words, and by the example of our own lives that these things are true and it important to abide by them (1 Thess. 2:10-11).
If we speak to them but fail to practice what we preach, we will turn them away from the truth. In order to avoid this, we need to be conscious of ourselves and give all diligence to ensuring that our own “walk” matches our words.
In all of this we need to depend much on the Lord’s grace. Jesus said in John 15:5b,” … without me you can do nothing.” All our efforts must be fully covered in prayer. We need His wisdom to know how best to reach each of our children, knowing that they have different characters and may respond to our teaching in different ways. We need His guidance as we try to show our love for them in a way that is acceptable to them, so they grow to understand that, even when we have to discipline them, we mean well and are trying to do what is best for them. Our prayers will allow God to work within their lives to shape them according to His perfect will. Prayer will put a shield around their whole being, protecting them from physical, emotional, or spiritual attacks from the enemy. As we pray for them the Lord may open our eyes to areas where we may need to take certain actions, or to stop using a particular method for a particular child, or anything that He deems necessary. “Prayer changes things” and as we earnestly employ it concerning every aspect of our children’s lives, it will surely bring about positive changes in them.
QUESTION 4) WHAT WOULD BE THE RESULT OF FAILING TO NURSE OUR CHILDREN?
As we saw in the beginning, effectively nursing produces a healthy child. On the other hand, failing to do so would produce an unhealthy child. A child, when he is grown, will not depart from the a in which he was trained (Prov. 22:6). “A foolish son is the heaviness of his mother” (Prov. 10:1b); and “… a child left to himself brings his mother to shame” (Pro. 29:15b). “A foolish son is the calamity of his father” (Pro. 19:13). Prov. 22:15 tells us that the rod of correction drives foolishness away from a child’s heart, and Pro. 23:13-14 tells us that correction (or proper training) will deliver their souls from hell. If we do not want our children to bring us grief, then we have a duty to train them effectively in God’s way. If we leave them to themselves, they are likely to act like the children of Israel who forsook the Lord after their fathers died and brought God’s wrath on themselves (Judges 2:7-15). God’s wrath will surely come upon those who walk in disobedience (Rom. 1:18; Eph. 5:6-7). We do not want our children to be partakers with them.
QUESTION 5.) WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF RAISING CHILDREN GOD’S WAY?
“A WISE SON MAKES A GLAD FATHER” (Pro 10:1a). prov. 29:17 says, “correct your son, and he shall give you rest; yes, he shall give delight to your soul”. Pro. 23:24-25 further says “The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice”.
Effectively raising our children in God’s way will cause us to have great joy and peace because as Pro. 22:6 says, they will walk in the way that they have been taught to. While others may be lamenting over “strange children, whose mouths speak vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” (Psa. 144:11), we will, by the Lord’s grace, live to see “… our sons… as plants grown up in their youth, (and) our daughters,,, as cornerstones, polishes after the similitude of a palace” (Psa. 144:12).
DAILY LIVING APPLICATION:
Every child is a precious gift to us from our heavenly Father. Just as we should not be careless with any very costly possession we may have, so must we pay great attention to the training of our children. We must not leave them at the mercy of the ungodly influences that exist in the world around us. We must steer them safely through the course that the Lord has mapped out for us to take them through. We must love them, protect them, care, and provide for them. We must teach them what to do and show them by our own lives how to do it. We must remain faithful so that they will learn to do the same. Above all, we should cover our own lives, and theirs also, in much prayer, for “… the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16b).
As we do all this diligently and in faith, the Lord will surely bless our efforts, and His hand will be upon our children’s lives for good.
MEMORY VERSE:
DEUT. 6:7
“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”.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE:
MON: Joseph refused to sin against God, even in a strange land. Gen 39:7-9
TUE: Moses was affected by his parents teaching and faith. Heb. 11:23-26
WED: Daniel held fast to what he had been taught. Daniel 1:3-8
THU: The Israelites forsook God when their fathers had died. Judges 2:6-15
FRI: God’s command to teach the next generation. Ps. 78:1-7
SAT: Timothy continued in what he was taught. Acts 16:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:1-5