I know many of you can relate to how I felt when I received my father’s bolt-action single shot 22 cal. rifle. It was the one that my dad grew up with as a boy and used it to hunt small game in the woods of Missouri. It was old and tarnished but now it was mine to have and pass down to my kids. In a sense it wasn’t really mine but was put in to my trust to keep care of and make sure it is given to the next caretaker. Maybe in your case it wasn’t a rifle but maybe a dresser, picture or even a valuable piece of jewelry. But this property or inheritance has been entrusted to you to cherish and love as you steward over it until it’s time to pass it on to the next in line.

The psalmist writes in Ps. 127:3, “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” The word “gift” can be translated property or inheritance that the Lord has given to us. As much as we would like to think having children is totally up to

With out the help of God and a good church, parenting would be a total disaster! (tweet)

us and no one else, the bible says children are a gift from God. In the book of James we are exhorted, don’t be misled…whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God. (James 1:16-17 NLT) So bottom line is that God has given us children to steward over. Wow! What an awesome and humbling responsibility. We will one day all stand before God and give an account of how we steward this gift as well as others that He has given us.

Now lets be honest, even though I went to all the prenatal classes and doctor appointments with my wife. Even painted the new baby’s room and put together all the furniture. I really had no idea what being a parent was all about until that first night we were able to bring her home. After my shocking experience in changing this

Let us be good stewards of His gifts, as we raise our children with His love and statues.   (tweet)

cute newborn’s diaper alone with a sleepless night of trying to rock and settle her through the night, revealed to me that I was sinking fast in the realm of parenting. The crash course of parenting 101 in the next couple weeks began to point me in the right direction for the next thirty-some years of parenting.

The truth of the whole subject of parenting in my life, now that it is coming to a close after these many years is, well, I think I am finally figuring it out. With out the help of God and a good church that He puts in your life to help, it would be a total disaster! He gives us these small buddles of love and asks us to nurture them and teach them His way. Then there will come the day that these gifts that have been in our possessions are given back to the Lord for their next season of life. Much in the same manner as we see with Jochebed, Moses mother as she hid and protected him for three months. But then she had to release little Moses in his make shift ark with the currents of God’s providence to take over for his next season of life. (Exod 1:22-2:10)

Even the most basic reading of Matt 18:1-5 demonstrates that Jesus loves children. He said, “Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.” Let us be good stewards of His gifts, as we raise our children with His love and statues.