Children: Designed to Grow and Go!
“Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak withtheir enemies in the gate.” -- Psalm 127:4-5
My daughter, Anna, and I share a favorite children’s picture book, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss. I never read it to her as a child. She discovered it while searching for quotes to put on artwork in her first child’s nursery. If I had not let her grow and go, I may never have heard such a whimsical expression of Biblical truths about preparing children to launch.
Ever since the dawn of time, children have grown and gone. It’s God’s design. “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” He instructed both Adam & Eve and Noah and his wife. God intended children to grow and go. Think of all the mothers in Scripture who released their children: Jochebed let go of Moses and floated him down the Nile; Hannah desired a baby so badly she let Samuel go before conception; Mary released Jesus to the crowds and the Cross. But what way should a child go?
The way God intends her to. Proverbs 22:6 not only tells us to teach our children but also implies that each child has a unique story, a way God designed just for them. The best teachers are excellent learners; study all the characters God has written into your family’s story.
How can your home help each one, including you and your husband, develop all the individual interests and talents under your roof?
Books are a great start. There’s lots of good reading for parents and kids. Are you familiar with the Alice in Bibleland series? Each story starts with this statement, “Reading is the magic key to take you where you want to be.”
The Bible is a library of 66 literature books in many genres: history, genealogies, biographies, personal letters, poetry, and even a songbook. Scripture is the only library where every volume acts as a compass to heaven. The Psalmist used the analogy of parents as warriors and children as arrows. God’s word instructs us to aim our arrows with precision.
Teach them and launch them with a Christ-centered worldview against the world’s delusions. God has given us all the power to choose. The Bible teaches children how to make wise choices as they grow and go.
Questions for Reflection:
1. What Scripture did you read or quote to your children today?
2. When you correct your child, do you take time to give a Biblical explanation of your discipline?
3. How are you preparing to release your children?
