A Bundle of Myrrh

This is a church newsletter article I recently wrote – phil.

“America loves dogs.” I heard this said recently and it struck me. It’s true. Dogs are protected by law from abuse and killing and are highly valued. And there is nothing wrong with that. Dogs can make wonderful pets. What is odd is that America loves pets, but does not love children as much.

Consider the dog fighting incident with a professional football player a few years ago. This man had a dog fighting ring with executions and dogs fighting to the death. This gruesome behavior and other illegal activities earned him time in prison and many critics who said he was a despicable human being. People were outraged, and deserved to be. But who is outraged at the helpless children being murdered every day through abortion?

In fact, people are praised for not bringing life into this world. It it said children are too much trouble and expense, and there are too many people already. I wonder if abortion for dogs would be treated the same way. We do not love children, as a nation, which is at the root a spiritual problem.

People are considered lower than animals by some who believe in evolution. They say all animals have a right to exist, but people are taking over, they are displacing and ruining the animals’ lives and homes with all their activities. There is a great effort to preserve life, but not human life.

How sad it is that children and people are not loved. Life is not a burden, but a gift from God. We don’t love children just because they are cute and fun, because sometimes they are not. “A skeptic knows the cost of everything, but the value of nothing.” Experts can tell us the cost of children and all the sacrifices of sleep, time, and energy, but not the value. Our value comes from God, for we are made in His image and His likeness.

Without children, there are no adults. My personal theory is that the way people treat children shows what they think of themselves. Conversely, Jesus said how we treat children and teach them is how we treat Him: “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me“(Mark 9:37). Again: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold“ (Matthew 24:12).

What is odd is that we make children very important, but value them too little. By doing so, we minimize God the Father who is the Creator and determiner of value and worth. Children can take the place of God, by being made the center of our lives and the source of all our happiness. So every little activity must be carefully planned and all endeavors must be successful. But the most important task, that of salvation, has already been accomplished. Our children inherited not just our genes, but our sin. They will fail you, just as they fail God. Like us, our children are born into rebellion and death. That is why the second birth of baptism is so important, indeed more important than the first birth.

Having children is not like having a boat or a pet. Those can be chosen for the fun of ownership. Raising Children is a service to God. Redeemed by Christ, they are baptized into Christ’s death, safe from their sin and God’s wrath. The good Lord gives and takes away. He determines the time birth and the day of death; littles ones are not ours. Parents are to feed and clothe, not to make happy in every circumstance.

The cost is great, but the value of a baptized soul is priceless. The value of children is found in relation to Christ, not their soft skin and small size. The real service and sacrifice of training children should be made to God Himself, not the little ones who think that the world revolves around them. This loving task says God’s gift granted to every soul in Christ is all-important, not the selfish whims or flighty happiness of the child. This unfortunate reversal has made this Scripture verse incomprehensible today: “But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety” (I Timothy 2:15).

My wife and I are starting to get interesting comments about the size of our family. In the end though, I am too poor a sinner and without any good in myself, so that I cannot turn down God’s blessed gifts. We are not that rich, in our own eyes. Our hope is not in this world or its pleasure: “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings“ (Luke 16:9).

All of us have not been as welcoming and loving as the Father is toward us. We focus on the cost, but not the value, which is determined in God’s eyes. In Christ, we are beloved children, dead to our sin. No act, even the sacrifice of parenting, in this world can do better than what Jesus has done for us. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him” (I John 3:1).

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 29th, 2011 at 7:32 pm and is filed under Preserving a Christian Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.