27 For this child I prayed
1 Samuel 1:27-28; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 28 Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.
In so many ways the world minimizes the importance of children and the privilege of parenting. Even though many give lip service to the subject many in society seem to think of little of either.
Hannah had longed for a child and prayed earnestly for a son. Her prayer was answered, and Samuel was born. His name literally means “heard of God”. Hannah never forgot that God heard her prayers and gifted her with a son.
In return, Hannah gave her son back to the Lord. She understood Samuel had been given to her, but truly he would always belong to the Lord.
As parents, we must see that our children are gifts from God. They are not ours for our enjoyment alone, but we have a weighty responsibility to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and to disciple them to become followers of Christ.
When we see the importance of our role as parents it should put into focus other priorities such as work, hobbies, volunteer work, and more.
If I were to put our roles and relationships in an order of importance it would be
- Our relationship with God
- Our relationship with our spouse
- Our relationship with our children
- Everything else
Hannah could not completely control everything that would happen to her son, but she entrusted her son to the Lord’s care.
May we count it a privilege to be a parent, and raise our children for the glory of God.
Leave a Reply