June 19: CHERISH THE CHILDREN

Jesus loved the children. He said “Let the children come to me and don’t stop them.” (Mark 10:14) Children loved Jesus. As Pastor of a church, I always wanted to have a Jesus-type relationship with the children. I always liked to work with the children in Vacation Bible School. They were so alert and alive, faces so expectant to learn about Jesus.
In the Worship time, the children sing with enthusiasm and faith. Look around you every Sunday at the children and pray for them and hope that they will give their lives to Jesus early and avoid much needless pain from experimenting with evil.
Christianity teaches us to cherish the children. In many cultures, the children are helpless pawns. They are forced into the military. They are made the slaves of blind religion and selfish governments. Even here in our own country child abuse is at an all-time high. Why and how does a society allow that to happen? The cancer that eats away at the American home is seen in the way it treats children. “Latch-key” and “throw-away” kids are obvious in the social scene. With summer vacation here watch the number of children increase in hanging out at the shopping centers.
I am just as concerned for the children who are abused and neglected in middle class families. So many children are angry. They strike out in violent acts, gang behavior, disrespect for authority; a society pays a terrible price when it doesn’t cherish the children. Notice the number of “roadside markers” multiplying as more youth die in accidents?
In 1 Samuel 1:27-28, we are told that Hannah cherished her boy Samuel so much that she dedicated him to God saying, “I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” Did that affect what kind of mother she would be? You better believe it!
Raise your children in this Biblical value system; it’s much better than “traditional values.”

“Dear Father, You have entrusted us with the responsibility of raising
children for You and with You. Give us overflowing love for them. Amen”