Lo, 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: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” Psalms 127:3-5 Babies.

Sweet. Innocent. Beautiful. Precious.

Babies are so special. Did you know that babies are the only gift from God, besides salvation, that you can take to heaven with you? God has blessed you with a nice house? Great! He has given you a neat job? Wonderful! He has granted you a new car? Praise the Lord! But these will all burn up eventually.

A while ago, lightening started a wild fire near my parent's brand new home. They were evacuated, but due to the work of many firefighters and some big hearted neighbors with water trucks, no homes were lost. But this made me think; their home WILL eventually burn up. It is just a matter of time. So will mine. So will yours. When Jesus returns to this planet, all of this- our cars, homes, jobs, clothes- will burn. What won't burn?

Our babies' souls.

That makes them the only lasting treasure we have. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:” Matthew 6:19, 20

We should have our priorities focused on those things that will last into eternity. Nothing of this world will last, but human souls are eternal.

Can we really make sure our children go to heaven with us? No, it is not really our choice. God gives everyone that option for themselves. I can not force you to accept God into your heart and I can not force my child to do so either. However, we are all greatly influenced by the environment we are raised in. I view this on a scale of one to a hundred. Some will choose to go to hell no matter what- that is a 0. Some will seek God and choose heaven, no matter what-100. Most of us, however fall somewhere in the middle. What choice we make is determined by our own wills. Now, if I were a perfect mommy, I might could move all of my children into the "100" category. But I am human and make many mistakes.

However, if I do the best I can to teach my children about God and "bring them up in the nurture (culture) and admonition (education) of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4) then I do move them a little closer to the heavenly side of the equation; I enhance the chances that they will choose God.

How do I do this, this "bringing up in God?"

First it starts with my relationship with the Almighty. I can't give them what I don't have. I can't lead them to a place I don't know myself. I must make sure I am where I need to be with God and am growing in Him. First I must have Jesus in my own heart. I can not show my children a Jesus I don't know myself. Jesus is God Almighty Himself. He chose to take off His robe of divinity, put on a robe of flesh becoming human, and to be born to the Virgin Mary. He lived a perfect life while here on earth, never sinning. He is the only human to walk this planet that did not deserve to die. Yet He chose to go to the cross in my place to pay the price for my sins. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

What He asks from us in return is simply obedience. He wants to be Lord of our lives; not to torture us, but to make our lives better. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) We must repent (turn around) and make Jesus Lord (Boss) of our lives. Then we are on the path to heaven ourselves. We can't drive our children to God. We can only lead them.

Being in the right place with God involves daily Bible reading so we know God's opinions and plans for the world and for us. I

t also involves prayer. How would you feel if your spouse claimed he loved you but then only talked to you once or twice a week? You certainly wouldn't feel very loved. It wouldn't help your relationship to stay strong either. Many places in the Bible compare the marriage relationship to our walk with God. Just as a wife needs her hubby to talk to her, communicate with her and a hubby needs his wife to talk to him, we need to talk to God on a regular basis and we need to shut up once in a while so we can hear Him talking to us.

We need regular fellowship with other believers. Now, realize I am not talking about your children right now. I am not talking about sending your children to Sunday school. I am talking about you, Mama and Daddy. YOU need to be with other believers on a regular basis; at least weekly. Fellowship is like eating. You don't eat just once in a while, do you? Of course not. You eat several times a day. We should fellowship several times a week at least. This is both formal gathering to worship God together (sort of like spiritual steak) and informal gathering to enjoy each others company (like fresh, cold fruit on a hot summer's day). A good Bible-based Bible study is like fresh baked bread to the soul. We must be well fed before we can feed our children. These are the first steps in "hedging the bets" that our children will choose God and not the world as their first loves.