TEACHING CHILDREN FOR THE LORD

In the Bible, Jesus said: “Let little children come to me…for of such is the kingdom of God” Matthew 19:14). And the Bible says, teach little children in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not forget (Proverbs 22:6). As we have been taught by God, we should train our God-given children for the Lord (Deuteronomy 4:9).

EXAMPLES OF CHILDREN TRAINED IN THE BIBLE

SAMUEL.  In the Old Testament of the  Bible, the parents of a boy named Samuel recognized that their child was a gift from God (Psalm 127:3). They understood the importance of teaching their child about the Lord. They took him to a prophet of the Lord named Eli to be trained in the way of the Lord. After he was trained in God’s way Samuel walked in the way of the Lord. Samuel became a prophet of God and ministered to God’s people. (1 Samuel 1:24; 1 Sam. 3:1, 19-20).

TIMOTHY. In the New Testament, Timothy, as a child, was trained in the way of the Lord by his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice.  As a youth, he was fathered in the way of the Lord by the apostle Paul. The Lord used what Timothy learned to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ to many others. (2 Timothy 1:2-8).

PRODIGAL SON. The biblical parable of a Prodigal Son tells us about a child who was taught the right way. But he went astray when he came of age. Attracted by the pleasures of the world, the son asked for his inheritance so he could go out into world. When he had spent all of his money on riotous living, and was destitute, he remembered his loving father and decided to go back home. His father welcomed and embraced him with open arms, as God does all those who return to him (Luke 15:11-24; 1 John 1:9). 

 

WE SHOULD TEACH CHILDREN FOR GOD

My grandmother taught me about the Lord when I was a child. She had me read to her from the Bible when I was very young. She lived in a way that I believed she  loved the Lord and others like the Bible says. She sent me to Sunday School. Once when she took me to church, I was ten years old  when I heard a sermon in which Jesus told a man named Nicodemus “you must be born again.” I was “born again” by accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior.  Later, I went astray from the Lord; but returned. I have sought to apply what I learned  in my own life about the Lord, and in working with children and others.

I was impressed to see a young Sunday School teacher voluntarily using a “virtual” class to teach children for the Lord, during a pandemic.  She recognized the importance of training children for God while they are young. 

We all should obey the Lord and teach the children he has placed under our influence for him. Teaching them about the Lord early in their lives will improve their chances of accepting him and having the loving relationship he desires to have with them. And when we come before the Lord, we will be glad to hear him say, as he said in Matthew 25:23, “Well done, good and faithful servant…Come and share your master’s happiness!”