By Nancy Campbell
CHILDREN ARE GOD'S GIFT
TO MARRIAGE
* Genesis 33:5. "And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the
children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he
said, The children which GOD HATH GRACIOUSLY GIVEN thy
servant."
* Genesis 48:9. "They
are my sons, whom GOD HATH GIVEN ME in this place."
* Joshua 24:3. "I took
your father Abraham...and multiplied his seed, and GAVE HIM ISAAC."
* Ruth
4:13b. "The
LORD GAVE HER CONCEPTION,
and she bare a son."
* 1 Chronicles 25:4-6.
"Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hannaniah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth: all these
were the sons of Heman the king's seer in the words
of God, to lift up the horn. And GOD GAVE TO HEMAN fourteen
sons and three daughters. All these were under the hands of their father for
song in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the
service of the house of God, according to the king's order..."
* Psalm 127:3-5, NEB.
"Sons are a GIFT from the Lord and children a reward from him. Like
arrows in the hand of a fighting man are the sons of a man's youth. Happy is
the man who has his quiver full of them; such men shall not be put to shame
when they confront their enemies in court."
* Psalm 127:3, KNOX.
"Fatherhood itself is the LORD'S GIFT, the fruitful womb is a reward
that COMES FROM HIM."
Martin Luther comments on
this verse, "Genesis 9:1 leads us to believe that children are a gift of
God and come solely through the blessing of God, just as Psalm 127:3 shows. The
heathen, who have not been instructed by the Word of
God, believe that the propagation of the human race happens partly by nature,
partly by accident, especially since those who are regarded as most suited for
procreation often fail to have children. Therefore the heathen do not thank God
for this gift, nor do they receive their children as the gift of God."
* Isaiah 8:18.
"Behold, I and the CHILDREN WHOM THE LORD HATH GIVEN ME are for
signs and for wonders in
GOD SAYS CHILDREN ARE
HIS BEST GIFT!
* The message Bible
translation of Psalm 127:3 says, "Don't you see that children are God's BEST
gift? the fruit of the womb His generous legacy?"
* The Moffat's
translation says, "Sons are a gift from the eternal and children are a BOON
from Him."
HOW SHOULD WE RECEIVE A
GIFT?
We see from the above
scriptures that children are a gift from God. What should we do with a gift,
especially a gift from God? Reject it or receive it? How should we receive the
gift of children?
Matthew 18:5 says,
"Whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receives Me." The word 'receive' that is used here is the Greek
word, 'dechomal' which means to 'accept a gift
deliberately and readily; to receive heartily; reaching out eagerly to receive
something; looking for; waiting with earnest expectation.' Check
also Luke 9:48. It is different from when the word 'lambano'
is used which means to receive without necessarily a favorable reception.
Matthew 18: 5 tells us that when we receive a little child, we are actually
receiving Jesus Himself. To welcome a baby is to welcome Jesus! Should we
receive Jesus with a half-hearted attitude? Some folks are adamant that they don't want to have children at all. Others will say,
"Well, if God gives us one, we'll accept, but we're not trying." This
scripture says that we are to intentionally desire the
gift of children.
Recently, a dear friend of
mine had a vision, which had a powerful impact upon her, and
also upon me when she shared it with me. She shares, "In this
vision I saw God, as a king and a father, busily wrapping all types of
presents. All these gifts were different, no two wrapped alike, and all of them
were beautifully adorned in all kinds of paper and bows. I came to understand
in my spirit as I watched, that all of these 'gifts'
were children.
I continued to watch as God
went from door to door, home to home, delivering these
carefully wrapped packages. My heart began to break as time after time, doors were opened and closed in His face, denying the gift God brought.
Some were very nice in their response, explaining that they were too busy right
now to receive any gift - maybe later. Others were downright rude,
slamming the door in disgust, and some would take the gift, look at it and
shake it a little, then throw it out the door.
I watched as God's heart
broke and a tear trickled down the face of this kingly Father. He had spent so
much time, love, and excited preparation to create and deliver these
gifts...and to what avail? There were a few families who
embraced the gift He gave them and a few who were overjoyed that He would
deliver it to them personally. However, the majority of the people were
unreceptive to the gifts from this loving Father."
WHY DOES GOD GIVE
1. TO
PROCREATE THE EARTH as we have already discussed. (Genesis 1:28)
2. TO
HONOR
Talking about Heman in 1 Chronicles 25:4-6, The
Living Bible says, “God honored him with fourteen sons and three
daughters." The
It is noteworthy that God
commences the blessing chapter of Deuteronomy 28 with these words, "God
will set thee on high above all nations of the earth." He then proceeds to
say how He will do this - by pouring out abundant blessings, the greatest being
the blessing of the fruit of the womb. God's Word says that the blessing of
children will set us on high, not bring us low. It will cause us to be
"the head, and not the tail". We will be "above and not
beneath."
The world looks upon those
who have a large family to be inferior. This is the deception of the enemy, the
one who is called the Deceiver and the Liar. This
thinking is opposite to the truth of the Word of God, which says that the
blessing of family will set us on high.
Check these scriptures
also: Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16; Psalm 107:41; Matthew 15:4; Ephesians 6:2,3.
3. TO
DO US GOOD.
Deuteronomy 30:5 says,
"He will do thee good, and multiply thee." When God wants to do
something good for us, He gives us children. Look up these scriptures too: Genesis 32:12; Deuteronomy 7:13; 13:16; 28:63a; 30:9.
4. TO
GIVE
Luke 1:14-18, TJB says,
"Your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son...he will be your joy and
delight...and many will rejoice at his birth." In this scripture
God gives two reasons for giving baby John to Zechariah and Elizabeth. First,
He says that he will give them JOY AND DELIGHT. God gives us children to
bring us great joy, gladness and happiness. Would you like to have more joy and
happiness? Then receive the gifts God wants to give you. Psalm 127:5 says,
"HAPPY is the man who has his quiver full of children." It doesn't say he'll be ashamed. It doesn't
say he'll be miserable. It says he will be HAPPY! Does God lie?
Godly children bring much
joy to a marriage. The older you get and the more you mature, the more you
realize that every other 'thing' we strive after in this life is fleeting and will pass away. It is only our children that are lasting gifts that we will keep forever. We can
take them into eternity with us. Everything else will be left
behind. Wise couples will want the gifts that are lasting.
In Ezekiel 24:25, Jerusalem
Bible we read what God thinks of our children, "And son of man, on the
very day I deprive them of their sons and daughters who are their...
strength,
their pride and glory,
the delight of their eyes,
the joy of their hearts..."
In Hosea 9:16 God doesn't just call our children the "fruit of the
womb", but the "beloved fruit of the womb" or some translations
say, "treasures of the womb."
5. FOR
THE SERVICE OF GOD.
Luke 1:15-17 tells us that
John was not only given to Zechariah and Elizabeth to
give them great joy but for a specific purpose. "He will bring many of the
sons of
We read in 1 Chronicles 25 that Heman's
children gave him more power and blessing. But ultimately
these children were given to him to help him in his service for God. "They
were all under the direction of their father to sing in the temple of the Lord,
for the service of God's temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres." Our
children are given to us to train for the service of
God. They are given to us to prepare for the specific
purpose that God has planned for them.
In Amos 2:11, God says,
"I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men
for Nazarites." God has a purpose for every
child.
6. A
GIFT TO THE NATIONS.
Jeremiah 1:5 says,
"Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I
ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." As I checked the word
"ordained" in my concordance I was amazed to
notice that the Hebrew word, "nathan" is a
primary root word meaning "to give." God planned Jeremiah's future
before he was even conceived! And
God gave him as a "gift" to the nations.
Every child is a gift to
the world! Isn't that exciting? Our children are not
only a gift from God to us, but also a gift to others. Each child God has given
you is a gift from God to the world. Who knows which one will be another David,
or Paul, or Einstein or Billy Graham! Or anointed and
faithful builders, teachers, store managers or whatever! And
of course, godly mothers and fathers. Praise God, the world will never be the
same because of the children that you have brought into the world and will
bring into the world.
7. TO DEFEND US, HELP
US, AND PROTECT US.
Psalm 127:5 tells us that
the man who has his quiver full of arrows will never be defeated when he meets
his enemies in the place of judgment. He will have children who will stand up
for him and fight for him.
8. TO
CARE FOR US WHEN WE ARE OLDER.
Read Proverbs 23:22; Isaiah
58:7,Matthew 15:4-8; Mark 7:9-13; John 19:25-27; 1
Timothy 5:3,4,8,16. As you can see, there are many scriptures about this
subject. God's plan is that the younger generation will care for the older
generation. This also affects the whole nation. If we do not have the children
God has destined for us to have, there will be an imbalance in the population -
there will be more older people than younger.
7. FOR
GOD HIMSELF.
This is the highest reason.
Although God gives us the joy of children for the above reasons, they are really
His children. When God spoke to His people about their children, He called them
"MY children...", "the sons and daughters whom you have borne
unto ME." (Ezekiel 16:20,21). We do not have
children, just for ourselves and our own benefit, but
for God! We nurture them and train them for Him.
Parenting is the highest
calling God has given to mankind. Every other career
is subservient to this one. Everything else we do in life serves our highest
calling of teaching and training the next generation for God. Finis Jennings Dake, in the 'Dake's Annotated
Reference Bible' comments on Psalm 127:
"Each child will in
the process of time be a defense, support and propagation of the eternal
reproduction of man and fulfillment of the plan of God for man. The more arrows
one has, the more enemies he will slay, the more powerful will he be in the
earth. The more children born and saved to help God administer the affairs of
the eternal plan for man, the more reward God will have."
WE DEPRIVE OURSELVES AND
OTHERS
When we refuse to receive
the gifts that God has planned to give us, we deprive many people. We deprive:
1. GOD. This is the most serious. We
deprive Him of the purposes and plans that He has for the children that He
destined to be born.
2. ETERNITY. God wants to fill His house. He not
only wants to fill the earth, but He wants to fill His eternal kingdom. We fill
eternity with those who are born on earth.
3. OURSELVES. We deprive ourselves of being blessed by God. Every child is another blessing. Once
we receive the blessing of a child from God, we wonder how we could ever live
without that child. When Onan destroyed his sperm he was deprived of being in the lineage of Jesus.
4. GRANDPARENTS. We deprive our parents of their
"glory and honor" which are grandchildren. Read Proverbs 17:6. The
Living Bible translation says, "An old man’s grandchildren are his
crowning glory." Why should we deprive our parents of their reward and
glory in their older age?
5. OUR
CHILDREN. We
deprive our present children of more brothers and sisters. Children love to
have more children in the family. They love to have
another baby brother or sister. I often sadly think of the brothers and sisters
that I could have had. More brothers and sisters are always a blessing. If my
parents had been willing to have more children, not only would
I have been more blessed, but also my children would have more uncles
and aunts. If my siblings had trusted God for more children my children would be blessed with more cousins, and I would have had
more nieces and nephews. Remember, God wants our families to be "like a
flock."
6. THE
CHURCH. The
church today would be 50 to 100 percent stronger if we, the people of God, had
not limited the godly seed. There would be more apostles, prophets, pastors,
teachers and evangelists.
7. THE
WORLD. We
deprive the world of the blessings of a godly seed. We deprive the world of being illuminated with light. We deprive the world of being
'salted'! We deprive the world of more godly young people and men and women. We
deprive the world of more godly mothers and fathers who will build strong
families that will build a strong nation.
as of 11-2005