The Best for our Babies

 

Photo by Aditya Romansa

Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. ~I Kings 3:27

In the story of King Solomon, two new moms who were prostitutes brought their babies to the king. One mom had lain on her baby in the night and smothered it. She had taken her dead baby and swapped it for the other mom's living baby. Now they argued before the king.

King Solomon sounded cruel when he asked for a sword to divide the living child in two, but in reality, he was revealing the heart of the true mother. She was willing to give up control of her child's life to save her baby. King Solomon returned the child to her because he knew only a real mother would be willing to give up her child for its life. 

As moms, we give up a lot for our children, even our own bodies. We to protect our babies, give them everything life has to offer, and hold them close, but are we willing to give them up for the sake of their lives? For the sake of their souls? We must give them up to the king, the King of kings, if we want life for our babies. 

What would that look like? 

• Are we reading a Bible story to our children each night or do we find ourselves too tired? 
• Are we praying with them and for them or just telling them to say their prayers?
• Are they involved in activities that would take them away from church, activities we feel would give them a better chance in life to be professional athletes, musicians, or performers? 
• Are we willing to have less so we can raise our children to love Jesus instead of giving them up to others to raise?  Prov 22:6
• Are we giving them our undivided attention when they want/need to talk to us? Deut. 11:19

The back-to-school ads have begun. Are you already rushing around trying to find the best buys for the upcoming school year? More importantly, have you checked out the schools and curriculum your child(ren) will be taught this year? You may think this is where my children have always attended. This is where I attended, and all my family. Schools of all sorts have changed tremendously in the last few years. It's not what we always expect. It may be time to be like the mother in Solomon's court. It may be time to sacrifice some wants to supply what our children really need. 

We may not be the best mom just as the mom in our story wasn't the perfect mom. She wasn't married. Other moms probably wrote her off as unworthy of their company.  She lived as a prostitute, but she was willing to give up her baby if it meant giving her baby life. 

Can we do better? How can we give our children to Jesus even when it means sacrificing the things we think are important to us? 

Maybe your toes feel stepped on. I know mine do. Maybe we feel like it's too late. It's never too late to give our children to the King of Kings. 

Heavenly Father, may I be willing to turn loose of control, my desires, and my dreams. Help me to be willing to let you have control of my children, knowing you want the best for them. In Jesus' name. Amen.