Our Duty to our Children

New Birth

We have just received the ultimate gift for us personally, for my son and his wife, and for the whole family. A new grand-daughter is such a precious gift especially when girls are in short supply in our family. Yet in all the joy and rejoicing; in all the back-slapping and cheering, one sobering fact remains. In all the wonderful potential of every new life, in all the hopes and dreams for this wee scrap of humanity, it remains a fact that, unless she eventually accepts Jesus as her own personal Saviour and is born again in the Biblical sense, then all our love and prayers; all our teaching and guiding will avail her little as she grows to adulthood.

This is the starting position for every new birth on the planet – unless and until the new person receives salvation for themselves – when they are old enough to make such a decision – they are or will be as lost as the vast majority of souls in this world. This is a thought that reminds me of my duties to her as her Grandfather. It is the same for all of us as parents or grandparents – our first duty to the children is to raise them to know who their Saviour is and to help them find and accept Him as the lynchpin of their own lives.

I am reminded of what was possibly the saddest moment of my life when a distant relative asked me if I would do a naming ceremony and blessing for their wee son. When asked why, the response staggered me in its implications. Their local churches refused to name and bless the child because

· “The father is not baptised.”

· “The family are not members of the church.”

· “The family lives outside the church defined boundaries.”

And the worst of the lot

· “If your local church will not do it then neither can we as it is not our policy to countermand another churches decisions.”

So it was that I, very sadly and with great disappointment in church-dom in general, performed the most joyous and privileged task of welcoming a child into the family of God. How can we expect those who are not yet saved, or who are un-churched, to look at the callings and claims of Jesus Christ on their own lives if they see such shallow faith in the lives of those who profess just such a faith? If our faith is worth so little that we reduce it to a bureaucratic legal machine, then it is not worth even asking others to consider it for themselves.

Yet we, on the other hand; we who have been born again; we who have joyfully accepted Jesus as our personal Saviour; and we who are in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; we can all put our hand on our heart and say Jesus IS the Way, the Truth, and the Light because our experience proves that He is both real and relevant in today’s world. It is our relationship with the Lord that ultimately entitles us to say to that child, “Here, let me introduce you to Jesus.” It is our faith that the child will pick up and copy – as only children can.

So, for every new born baby within the sphere of our influence, let us all rejoice and ‘pray without ceasing’ for their eternal salvation and new birth through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. That is not only our duty to that child, but our wonderful privilege and honour – given to us by God Himself.

Amen ??