“Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands. Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.” (Psalm 112:1-2 NIV)
This past Saturday, I caught a flight, departing from Los Angeles at 6:15 a.m. My four younger boys had organized a three-day trip to get together, celebrate my wife and my 45th wedding anniversary. My oldest son held down the fort, as they say, performing all the pastoral duties at the church. As I saw the young sons, successful adults in their respective fields and saved, parenting their energetic children, ranging in age from three months to 11 years, the first thing that came to mind was, “I once was young.” Notice that I said, “I once was.”
The second thing I thought about, with pre-registration for schools starting soon, was the importance of making sure that our offspring, regardless of their age, making sure they have been through pre-registration. Not pre-registration for school, literally, but for learning spiritually. We need to make sure that they are signed up at the appropriate age, that chronological age where they can clearly recognize the spiritual blessing of a relationship with “The Rock” of ages. In case you did not know it, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land. Signing up, pre-registering is simple, once they decided to come to our Savior and confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus, believing that God has raised Him from the dead. From that point on, if we keep them focused on the one book required for living, the Bible, they will be among those who have reverence for the LORD and find delight in His commands. Consequently, like the falling of dominos stacked closely together, the generations that follow them will be blessed from generation to generation. Praise God. As a side note, my wife always ask them, similar to checking if they did their homework daily, “Did you read your bible today?” She recognizes that success on our spiritual journey requires the same work that was necessary on their academic journey. By the way, that applies to you and me too!
On my trip to LA, I had the opportunity to see one of my two sons in the ministry in action, leading a ministry that will help people overcome any type of addiction, extending far beyond alcohol and drugs and reaching into behaviors that are caused by past life experiences. If I would have had the chance to stay over until Sunday, I would have been able to witness him baptizing one of his children, 10 years of age. That would have been icing on the cake, as they say, because it has not been that many weeks ago since I saw my other son in the ministry baptize his granddaughter. Generation after generation, pre-registered and blessed. (Another “Praise God” goes right here!)
Let me close with the question in the title above: “Have your offspring been through pre-registration?” If you are thinking, “They are adults now,” let me tell you God will save people at any age and He can change the heart of any person who has a heart to believe, regardless of the mileage on their chronological clock. The latter part of the verse that I alluded to before says, “…and now I have been old, but I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread (Psalm 37:25).”
I cannot demand this of you, but I can direct you to get your children, if they have not already come to Jesus, get them to pre-registration by being the Lord’s witness in your own family. You only have to do it once, and they will be good to go, off and running for an eternity. Oh, yes, you might still have to ask, “Did you do your “homework.” Be blessed!
“Blessed man, blessed woman, who fear God, who cherish and relish his commandments. Their children robust on the earth, and the homes of the upright—how blessed! Their houses brim with wealth and a generosity that never runs dry.” (Psalm 112:1-3 The Message Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King