Three Famous Kids and How They Got That Way

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

Moses

Moses mother was forced by circumstances to do something she did not want to do.

You may be unable to change your circumstances:

• Single parenting.
• Problems with child custody issues.
• Working away from the home.
• Bad home environment.
• Dangerous neighborhood and school.

Central truth: Trust God absolutely. Do what you can, then trust!

• You may feel helpless and trapped, but God has a way of making the devil do His will.
• God made the ravens feed Elijah.
• God made the waters part for the children of Israel.
• God made the jail spring open for Paul and Silas.
• And God can work a miracle for you too!

Ps 31:19-24 Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!  20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.  21 Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.  22 For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.  23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.  24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Samuel

• Samuel’s mother did not get selfish with her blessing. She did not lust for control over his life.
• We are still in the midst of a child obsessed, child-fixated, even a “child-worship” culture.

Modern Ideas about Children:

“To rescue our children we will have to let them save us from the power we embody: we will have to trust the very difference that they forever personify. And we will have to allow them the choice, without fear of death: that they may come and do likewise or that they may come and that we will follow them, that a little child will lead us back to the child we will always be, vulnerable and wanting and hurting for love and for beauty.” June Jordan (b. 1939), U.S. poet and civil rights activist. “Old Stories: New Lives,” keynote address, 1978, to Child Welfare League of America (published in Moving Towards Home: Political Essays, 1989).  The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations is licensed from Columbia University Press. Copyright © 1993 by Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.  Caedmon recordings reproduced by arrangement with Harper Collins Publishers.

“Children’s liberation is the next item on our civil rights shopping list.”  Letty Cottin Pogrebin (b. 1939), U.S. journalist, author. “Down with Sexist Upbringing” (published in The First Ms. Reader, ed. by Francine Klagsbrun, 1972).  The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations is licensed from Columbia University Press. Copyright © 1993 by Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. 

Central truth: Submit to God completely.

(You will never be able to submit your child unless you submit yourself.  Also, submitting your child to God is the only way to protect him from the evil influences of the world around him.  (Internet porn, latest ideas about sex between adults and minors, etc.)

Timothy

Not a kid when we meet him in scripture, but we piece the story together.

2 Tim 1:2-5 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.  3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;  4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;  5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

The sincere, genuine faith of Lois and Eunice was so remarkable that the Apostle Paul immortalized it in scripture.

• They were not phoneys.
• They were not inconsistent, hit-and-miss, fair-weather people.
• They believed God in the darkest night.
• They lived for God when everyone around them was failing.

There were many enemies of Christ where they lived.

10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, 11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.  12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 3:10-12

Central truth: Exemplify God faithfully.

Mom and Dad, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, you are the guiding lights for these babies and children.  Too many people today excuse themselves from responsibility.  Too many people take “time-outs” from life so they can indulge themselves.

When you see Timothy in heaven, ask him how he got there. I’m sure he’ll point to the blood of Jesus for his salvation. But I also think he will say, “Let me introduce you to my Mom, and my Mamaw. If it weren’t for their example before me, I don’t know where I would have gone in my life.”

• Trust God absolutely.
• Submit to God completely.
• Exemplify God faithfully.

Who knows what kind of famous kid is being held in someone’s arms today.