Rejoicing With the Angels

By: Donna Martin

The lights faded in the worship center as the baptistery illuminated.   Nearly 2,000 students rose to their feet and cheered as 3 of their peers stepped into the baptistery.  Then 3 more were immersed as more cheers arose, then 3 more and so on until over 180 students had been baptized three at a time.  Chills swept over my body and tears formed in my eyes.  I felt like I was experiencing a bit of heaven on earth.  I imagined the party going on in heaven as the angels rejoiced over the souls that were saved.

One of the greatest moments in the life of parents or grandparents is when their child or grandchild becomes a believer.  The church, youth ministers, Bible study teachers, and pastors play an important role in witnessing to families and children.  However parents and grandparents should not depend solely on these people to influence their children to follow Christ.  God instructs parents to teach their children about God daily.  Here are some suggestions to help you lead your child toward God.

1. Pray, pray, pray – Since children don’t come with an instruction manual, it is imperative that we pray daily that God will guide us as we train up our children to love Him.  Pray for your child daily and throughout the day.  Pray with your child.  Say short prayers aloud as you drive in the car with your child, as you play together, as you enjoy nature.  Pray anytime and anywhere.  Always pray before meals.  Find Bible verses to pray over your child.
2. Read the Bible to your child. – When our children were growing up we had a family devotional every night before we tucked them into bed.  We would gather everyone together in one of our bedrooms and read a short Bible story.  Our first book was The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes by Kenneth N. Taylor.  The stories were short to fit their short attention spans.  As they grew older we used devotional books that were age appropriate.  After the devotional each person in our family said a prayer.  Sometimes the kids were not in the mood and sometimes we were not in the mood, but no matter, unless it was extremely late, everyone knew that family devotionals were a part of our night time ritual.
3. Have a daily personal quiet time with God and encourage your children to develop this habit.  You need this time alone with God to help you grow closer to Him so that you can be the parent or grandparent that God wants you to be.
4. Go with your child to church and make church attendance a priority over other activities.
5. Sing praise songs and hymns together with your children.  You don’t have to have a great voice.  The Bible tells us that God inhabits our praise. (Psalm 22:3)
6. Remember that your child is not perfect.  We are all sinners even your precious little 2-year-old.  All of us make mistakes and so will our children.  So when your child disappoints you, or makes poor decisions, or is going through a difficult time in her life continue to love, support and pray for her.  Even though it is difficult for us to watch our children suffer, God often uses these times to draw our child to him and to help our child mature and grow stronger in his faith.

It is God who saves and convicts people of their sins.  We cannot save our child, only God can do that, but we can pave the way for our child to know Christ by praying, reading the Bible, teaching our child about God, and living a life that exemplifies Christ.  Then when our child makes that decision to follow Christ we can rejoice with the angels.

 The Martins currently present “Happy Together” Marriage Enrichment Events for churches and organizations.  To schedule an event call Michael at 940-735-1515. They are certified “Prepare/Enrich” Facilitators and are available to work with couples on an individual basis using the “Prepare/Enrich Assessment.”  They publish a weekly “Happy Together” Blog about family and marriage issues.  You can order copies of their new books Dancing With Death and 366 Tidbits We Have Learned in 14,610 Days of Marriage, read, and subscribe to their “Happy Together” Blog by logging onto the Martin’s website at www.happytogethermarriages.com.