Protecting Your Kids’ Spiritual Future

Genesis 24:1-6,9

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The patriarch Abraham was very concerned about the influences on his son Isaac. And you should be very concerned about the influences on your children, too. We read from Genesis chapter 24.

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. (Genesis 24:1-6,9)

Abraham is very concerned about who his son marries, and you should be too.

Our culture prioritizes youth in all kinds of ways. We appreciate youth style, youth culture, youth music. But that’s not a given in all cultures, and definitely not in the past. Yes, there is a certain youthfulness and optimism and freshness that older people can benefit from, but by far the weight is generally on what is old and what is established and what is proven. And that past tradition is embodied in elders. People who are older, who have gone through the experiences of youth and are able to help those who are younger, learn to control their passions, learn to temper some of that optimism with a realism that will make them truly effective people in the world.

The Fourth Commandment tells children to honor their father and mother that it may go well for them. Kids, this is a call for you to respect your parents, to take their counsel, even when it doesn’t totally make sense to you as a good counsel born out of love. That will be for your ultimate and long term good. Parents, this is a call for you, like Abraham, to step into that role in a way that our culture would not necessarily encourage you to do. Abraham is very meticulous about who his son marries. This doesn’t just apply to who our children marry. But of course, marriage is one of these most important decisions that will have one of the greatest impacts on their lives.

So Abraham says to his servant, who is going to go source a wife for his son, don’t take a wife from the Canaanites among whom I live. Not only do they have a different culture, but that culture is rooted in worship of false gods, and I don’t want my son going astray spiritually. Instead, go to this place which we know from the rest of scripture was Harran, where some of Abraham’s extended family lived. Go get a wife from there. But he’s also very clear. Don’t let Isaac come with. Because God had promised to Abraham’s branch of the family that not only would Abraham have descendants which would be fulfilled through Isaac, but that he would take possession of this land of Canaan. And the people in the land were for the purpose of providing a blessing to all nations.

This is a promise of Jesus, who would be born almost 2000 years later, yet from this earthly human line. Isaac’s life had a purpose that went far beyond himself and his own wishes and desires. For Abraham, there was no other option. This was the promise of a Savior by which Abraham would make it to heaven. This was the Savior who would sacrifice himself for Abraham’s sins, who in the future had already as certainly provided the righteousness that Abraham needed as God had promised it. Abraham knew this was a case of spiritual life and death, not just for himself, but for the world.

Your children are not going to be in the line of physical descent of the Savior. However, they are going to be the ones to carry the same Savior through whom alone we have peace with God, forgiveness of our sins, and heaven ahead of us. They will be the ones to bring it into the coming generation. They will be the ones to bear it into the future. Be meticulous about who they marry.

There’s the old cliché about the father sitting on the porch, maybe cleaning his shotgun as his daughter brings her first boyfriend home. Kind of a blunt form of intimidation, saying, if you don’t treat my daughter well, watch out. But maybe we need a little bit more of that. Maybe we need parents to be more hands on where the culture tells you to fulfill yourselves, we Christian parents should say, fulfill the purpose and plan of God. Which is a much greater purpose than you could ever come up with on your own. And for your Christian children, they should be inviting their spouse to participate in that purpose with them. Now, this goes far beyond marriage to your children’s friends, the music they listen to, the movies they watch, the social media they engage with. And this shouldn’t be done to stifle them, but instead to support them and help them lean in to the great purpose God has for their lives.