Fruitful Vines
Psalm 128
Verse 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
We take another day to talk about God’s faithfulness to the righteous man by blessing him with children. Does that mean that if a person isn’t blessed with children that he isn’t in right standing with God?
As we mentioned the other day, there are different views on having many children these days than there were in biblical times. To say that a man without children is being punished by God is a comment that isn’t in alignment with Scripture. There are multiple situations in the Bible where a righteous man was either childless or had only a few children. Abraham was called the friend of God and yet he spent a large part of his life as childless man. Zechariah and Elizabeth were both said to be very godly people and yet they were very old when Gabriel promised them a son. The Apostle Paul never married and therefore had no children. The list could continue including Jesus.
Knowing these people with few children of their own were considered righteous we need to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us the true meaning of these verses. God does sometimes bless the righteous man with many children by giving him a fruitful wife. This is a reminder that man can’t build a family all by himself. If you remember we talked the other day about how God has put us in a place to help Him grow His family. Once again it is like God used the human unit of the family to reveal His bigger plan for Christ and the Church.
The key isn’t the reward, namely children, but the relationship with God. When we focus solely on the reward we are only getting the half portion of the actual gift of relationship. The blessing of children is the blessing of future generations. But those without children of their own or with a small family aren’t missing out on blessing the future. As we have said before the children don’t have to be our own to make a difference in their spiritual lives. The key is the passing on of the knowledge of the Lord so that all future generations will know the blessing of right relationship with the Father.
Making It Personal
What do you find as a blessing in having children? How important is it to you to influence children for the Kingdom? What are you doing to make sure you are influencing the children around you?
Making It Personal Kids
Do you feel like a blessing to your mom and dad? Do you act like a blessing to them? Why do you need to make sure that you are living as a blessing to them?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for the various children in our lives. Give us the wisdom to see them as blessings and live in ways that inspire them to seek You. In Jesus’ name, amen.