One thing marks almost all the heroes of the faith. Their children did not walk in their ways. Samuel serves as a most striking example of this. The Bible plainly tells us that because his sons did not walk in his ways the people asked for a king. King David’s sons display moral failures time and again, in son after son, culminating in possibly the greatest travesty of history, the apostasy of King Solomon. What is the secret to raising successful children?
Two things are required; a child’s parents must fear the LORD and delight greatly in his commands. If we will do this, God promises that our descendants shall be mighty upon earth. Fear God and delight in his ways. This is no idle injunction. Here is the secret to life and especially to raising children who will themselves walk after the LORD. How do we delight greatly in God’s commands?
First, know what God’s commands are. Read and re-read both the Old and New Testament. Seek out sincere teachers of God’s Word who can explain the commands you do not understand. Put the commands into practice. For example, one command I had forgotten for awhile is the injunction to take your neighbor’s cattle into your own field if you find it wandering about. The underlying principle here is that we should do to others as we would have them do to us. If I lose a valuable animal, I would certainly want my neighbor to retain and restrain it for me if it got over my fence. Wouldn’t you?
Well, just a couple days after being reminded of this verse, I drove down a nearby highway and noticed a nice Angus steer outside its fence just off the road. Immediately I pulled over, looked for the nearest house to the animal and drove there to report the missing beast. The home-owner knew the owner of the animal and promptly called him so he could save his beef. This is a simple example of putting God’s commands into practice.
The next step in obeying deals with three issues, what you look at, what you listen to, and what you say. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” If you fill yourself with the latest lusts of Babylon through its movies, television, pornography, and music, you will naturally pass those lusts on to your children. If you send your children to public schools that indoctrinate them in the religious values of Babylon, what do you expect them to become? Do you want to raise virgins holy to the LORD? Then come out of Babylon. God promises that you will share in her sins and her plagues in you fail to do that. Her sins are obvious. Her plagues are many, including children who rebel against God and go their own way into sad lives of more sin and despair.
The generation of the upright shall be blessed. This is the Elijah generation that sees the hearts of the children turned to their fathers and the fathers’ hearts turned to their children. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endures forever.
Praise you the LORD. Blessed is the man that fears the LORD, that delights greatly in his commandments. His descendants shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endures forever. Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man shows favor, and lends: he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he shall not be moved forever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies. He has dispersed, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his strength shall be exalted with honor. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish. (Psalms 112:1-10 KJ2000)
