Abraham gave Isaac two things: his material assets and a godly example. What could he not give him? A personal experience with God. Your children must experience God for themselves. Isaac’s God encounter happened when crisis hit his life. ‘The Lord appeared to him…and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you”…So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord’ (Genesis 26:24-25 NJKV). Charlie Shedd told the story of a little boy in school who was asked to write an essay on the topic, ‘How was I born?’ When he asked his mother, she replied, ‘The stork brought you.’ When he asked his mother how she was born, she replied, ‘The stork brought me too.’ Hoping his grandmother would help him, he asked her how she was born. She replied, ‘It runs in the family; the stork brought me too!’ So, he began his essay with these words: ‘There hasn’t been a normal birth in this family for three generations!’ Seriously, your children must be born again in order to be part of God’s redeemed family. And you should endeavour to lead them to Christ when they are young, and their thinking can be moulded. But if your children are older, it’s not too late. ‘Don’t cry any longer, for I have heard your prayers and you will see them again; they will come back to you from the distant land of the enemy. There is hope for your future, says the Lord, and your children will come again to their own land’ (Jeremiah 31:16-17 TLB).
