LHM Devotion - June 17, 2018 - "Weighing the Children"

Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

"Weighing the Children"

He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.

~ Psalm 78:5-7 (ESV)

Glen Adsit was a missionary to China.

Accompanied by his family, Adsit tried to share the Savior's story of salvation as quietly and secretly as was possible. Apparently, he was not quiet or secretive enough. Adsit was caught and he, along with his family, were placed under house arrest. After some time, soldiers told him he was being deported. They also informed him he could take 200 pounds of stuff.

But how do you pick 200 pounds of stuff?

For years they had been in China and during that time they had collected precious things, things connected with memories. How to decide what would be left behind? Everything precious was sorted and weighed and then sorted again. Eventually, they managed to reduce the pile of stuff to 200 pounds. Adsit and his family were ready when the soldiers arrived.

"Are you prepared to leave?" the soldiers asked.

"Yes."

"Have you weighed everything?" an officer wanted to know.

"Yes."

"Did you weigh the children?"

Weigh the children? Of course, they hadn't weighed the children!

For Adsit and his wife, the children had been a given -- the children had been taken for granted. In a split second, the officer's question realigned everything. The new typewriter, the valuable vase, the precious picture instantly became trash and were set aside. Bringing their children with them, making sure the children were safe, became the parents' single priority: their chief concern.

Fathers, today I'm asking, have you weighed the children?

Now I know you have many things which weigh on your mind, which call for your attention, which must be accomplished before the sun sets. But the question is "Have you weighed the children?" The truth is, everything else on your calendar, every goal you have set for yourself, pales in comparison to your God-given duties

1. to share the Savior's story of salvation with your little ones;

2. to set an example of how a Christian should conduct himself in an unchristian world.

Now you may be blessed to have a Christian wife, a pastor who is a most remarkable man for the Lord, and your church may be equipped with a multitude of dedicated teachers determined to do all they can to shape your little ones.

But the truth is this: the Lord has placed into your children a desire to emulate you, respect you, be like you. You can't stop it; you can't prevent it. And they will follow a good example or a bad example. In words and living, it is my hope and prayer that you point them to Jesus who gave His life, so they might be forgiven, so they might be saved, so they might spend an eternity in heaven with their heavenly and earthly fathers.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, for fathers who have followed the Savior and shown how Jesus can live in the heart and actions of a man, I give thanks. Raise up many more examples. In Jesus' Name, I ask it. Amen.

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Fathers, today I'm asking, have you weighed the children?