Teach your children well - Minority Opinions

I have many fears as a mother. Some are mundane, pedestrian, even. That Jonathan will have a temper tantrum in the parking lot, or Sophia will touch the toilet seat at Wal-Mart and then stick her fingers in her mouth. Some swing the pendulum to the extremely serious. That my child will grow up and question her faith. That she will die without having grown up at all.

That second fear hit home for two families I know this month. One lost their four-year-old son; the other their seventeen-year-old son. Both families are ripped apart, devastated, eviscerated by the sudden and permanent loss of their children. Both boys were adorable, talented, smart, so full of promise that now will never blossom. My heart seizes up just thinking about it.

Yet there is a difference between these boys. The young one died strong in his faith. He knew Jesus was his Savior; he professed it hours before his death in the simple words of a child. The other, I don?t know. His family seems to be nominally Christian, if at all. It breaks my heart to think that his family may have no belief and no hope for him, or for themselves.

Our pastor once said at the funeral of a young man in our church that the tragedy of a young person dying either brings people to God or causes them to grow away from Him. The former brings essential comfort and hope; the latter brings only temporary relief with someone to blame.

We know from the Bible that death is the unnatural result of sin. It is not ?natural? even if the person is old, but it is so much more unnatural, alarming, devastating, when the person is young, with the promise of years ahead. Yet Luther once said that ?A child of seven dies easiest, without fear of death. But as soon as we become adults, the awareness of death and hell begins, and we fear death.?

The irony is, Christians have nothing to fear from death.

I cannot imagine how one could lose a child and ever fully recover. I kiss my children every night when they are asleep in bed and pray that God?s angels will watch over them. I worry about their safety when they are out of my sight, and when they are with me, when they are riding in the car with someone else, when I am out of town. In short: constantly.

My fears swirl around like little devils. Seeing death all around only emphasizes the critical, urgent importance of teaching our children about their faith every single day. Jesus is the best gift we can give them. And then I need to trust that God will call them home when He wills, and that His timing is always right.

But I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, ?You are my God.?
My times are in your hand.

Psalm 31:14-15a

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Source: http://minorityopinions.com/2012/02/teach-your-children-well/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=teach-your-children-well

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