Totally Unqualified

Having a newborn in the house has been very exciting and challenging; both at the same time. It is something I have dreamed of for years and now I am so thankful to God for such a wonderful gift. I have been planning for a while now what I want to accomplish as a parent while understanding my primary responsibility is to point my beautiful daughter to Christ to find righteousness.

Knowing that I certainly do not understand all there is to parenting I have undertaken much study on the subject. I have been reading books, magazines, and web articles and also comparing the methods of parents I see throughout the day. I have learned many principles to keep in mind and am reminded to keep Christ as the focus. There have also been many practical ideas discovered that will be very helpful in accomplishing our goals.

I must read to my children and teach them the importance of discerning truth while learning. I must bring alive the Scriptures to help them better understand its message. I must be a good example of godliness in their lives and not fall back on the attitude of “do what I say, not what I do.” I must admit my limitations and apologize when I fail. I must teach them how to respect others, how to be polite, how to properly handle money, how to be a good husband or wife, to be a diligent worker, to eat their vegetables, to respect the creation, to exercise enough, to be a safe driver, to study hard in school, to properly clean themselves and a thousand other things. On top of all that, they are born like us with a sinful heart that will rebel against authority and resist obedience, so it will take patient, loving consistency over a lifetime to teach only a few of these things.

I think of all that goes on in my life, what I have prioritized, what I believe to be important, what makes me happy, and I wonder where I am to find the time and resources to tackle this monumental task; especially in our culture where time is money and having a family, instead of being a blessing, is more of a burden on our career and entertainment goals. At one time moms were respected as the primary influence on the family and now they are chided for choosing to accept this God-given challenge as keeper of the home (Titus 2:3-5) instead of pursuing a career. I have much sympathy for the single parent who desires much more time to raise their children but cannot afford to. Even as one who’s wife is home caring for our baby, I am afraid we will come far short of addressing all that our child needs.

With this massive list of responsibilities laid in front of me the thing that weighs heavy on my mind is that despite all of this preparation and study, I am totally unqualified to be a godly father. I am not even capable of properly taking care of myself, let alone an entire family. Most of us have some history of personal sin (actions or thoughts) that, if widely publicized, would cast serious doubt on our ability to be a parent or likely even a functioning member of a civilized society.

But here I am with a daughter. Granted the authority by Almighty God to guide a human soul in the ways our Creator. Given the responsibility of caring for another sinful person.

As I learn more and more about my responsibilities, more and more about my own sin, more and more about the holiness of our God, I come to the realization that we are created to be wholly dependent upon Him. We can do nothing of ourselves, but we have been commanded to be perfect. That by no means implies that we have the ability to be so, but calls us to trust in Christ with our entire lives. Only He can accomplish in us that which we are called to do. Only He can uphold us, sustain us, preserve us to the end. I pray that He does exactly that in our home.

Praise God that He can do it all by the power of his voice!

Those Who Are Not Yet Saved

While this is highly speculative, I wondered this morning if, when we speak of unbelievers as being "not yet saved," as Christians, we may implicitly concede that it is a decision that can be put off somehow. That is certainly not the case, and, of course, we know that ("Choose THIS day who you will serve;" "TODAY is the day of salvation"). I don't even know if it comes into our conversations with those nonbelievers with whom we are trying to share the Gospel. Certainly there is room for it in our prayers, and with other believers, since we know that God is drawing unto Himself a people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. And, we would trust in our prayers (as I did this morning) that He IS working, and will continue to work in people's lives, unto salvation. Nevertheless, I wondered, out loud, if this bears any resonance for you, my fellow "strivers in Christ." Just curious.