Children, what a wonderful word! We are told in Psalm 127:3-5, “ . . . children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them . . .” We see from these verses that children are a wonderful blessing which bring much joy to our lives. Jesus said, “ . . . Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven,” and on another occasion he said, “ . . . Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Matthew 18:3; 19:14). In these verses Jesus points out how beautiful and wonderful little children are.
All of us know that children grow up so fast. It seems that in a matter of no time they are teenagers and then before you know it they have graduated from high school and gone from home. I think one of the greatest mistakes many of us make is not spending enough time with our children. We live in a hectic world with great demands and it seems there is just not enough time. Too often the family is neglected. I am convinced this is one of the main reasons divorces has grown in leaps and bounds the last few years. Families do not have or take time for one another. The children suffer and the marriage relationship suffers.
I don’t know what the answer is to your particular situation, but let me stress one thing, don’t neglect your children. Spend as much time with them as you possibly can. Don’t miss their birthday parties; take them fishing; support them at school and in their recreational activities. Our children need us. Soon those 18 years will be gone. I hope we won’t look back and say, “Why didn’t I spend more time with my children?” The story is told of a little fellow returning home from school that visited his father in the workshop back of the garage. His dad gave him a piece of gum and told him to run on. Later he came back and his father gave him a quarter. A third time he returned, and his dad snapped, “Son, I gave you gum and twenty-five cents, what more do you want?” The little boy replied, “Daddy, I want you.” May we never forget that it takes time to be a parent, to mold character, to build a boy or girl.
~Ken Tyler
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