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WINTER 2017
HOMESCHOOL IOWA 19
According to the proverb, here is
something to greatly rejoice about!
Solomon speaks of an enthusiastic
delight, a deep gladness. After all, our
greatest joys usually arise from good
results where we have made our
greatest investment. Godly parents
have made an immense investment
of time and love into the lives of their
children. When something that costs
us much comes out well, we don’t
just rejoice; we greatly rejoice! When
someone we love more than our own
lives turns out blest, we don’t just re-
joice; we greatly rejoice! To know that
such a son is among the righteous is
as good as it gets!
For all the good we wish for our
children, nothing compares in scope
to this. What has a man gained if he
obtains the whole world but loses his
soul? What will he give in exchange
for his soul? Take just one area: If your
child becomes a righteous man or
woman, then this is true: “For the eyes
of the Lord are upon the righteous
and His ears attend to their prayer; but
the face of the Lord is against those
who do evil” (I Peter 3:12). What can
your sons or daughters gain if God is
against them? And, in fact, anything
they do gain, God can use against
them, to their ruin! Just as we see that
people who resist God often gain a lot
of “things,” a young person who gains
talents can become self-sufficient and
arrogant. His material gains can trans-
form him into an idolater, attaining to
great honor and advancement and
becoming self-destructively proud.
To have God [against] our children is
the most horrendous thought con-
ceivable.
But if God is [for] your children, and
His ears hear their prayers, who can
be against them effectively? “If God is
for us, who can be against us?” (Rom.
8:31) Do you realize that the [us] in
that verse does not apply to every-
one? It applies only to the people God
is for. And you want your child to be
one of those. What can effectively
harm those whom God is committed
to bless? So all our wishes for their
safety and blessing are fulfilled when
they are wise. What could compare to
the gladness for the parents of such a
one?! The joy any parents have over
their child, no matter how great that
joy is already, is multiplied beyond
comprehension when the child is liv-
ing in pursuit of righteousness as a
disciple of the Lord Jesus! And a tie of
eternal fellowship in Christ is added to
the natural ties of family unity - a tie
which is never to be severed.
If your child’s eternal safety would
make you glad, dear parent, then in-
vest in that which will give you that
fruit! Why fill their minds only with
tools to equip them to succeed in
life, in the very same departments
that the world invests in its children,
if what we really want is righteous-
ness? Paul wrote in Romans 14:17,
“For the kingdom of God is not eating
and drinking, but righteousness and
peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” - the
worthiest goals in life, under God’s
rule, are much grander in scope than
having enough to eat and drink and
wear. It’s having the righteousness
of God, peace with God, and joy
from God!
Succeeding economically in life
doesn’t compare. Your child’s having
enough to take care of you financially
in old age doesn’t compare. Giving
us good-looking and healthy grand-
children doesn’t compare. Nothing
compares! And so it is natural that, in
the proverb, Solomon would next say,
“Give me your heart, my son, and let
your heart delight in my ways!” This is
the lofty calling for which a godly par-
ent appeals to his children!
Many forces clamor for the heart.
Heaven and hell contend constantly
for it. But the passion and affection of
this language - “give me your heart,
my son” - is the tone of a father who
longs that his children never withdraw
into secrecy from him, that the doors
of communication remain open, so
father and mother always have ac-
cess to steadily urge them to be seek-
ing Christ first, without that feeling of
being “locked out” of their hearts but
welcomed there. We should never al-
low an emotional wall to be built up
against us. We should be working at
creating an atmosphere at home in
which they know it is welcome, even
desirable, to ask us about God’s ways.
The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers
a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and mother
be glad; let her who bore you rejoice. My son, give me your
heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
Proverbs 23:24-26