Responsibility

"And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace." Luke 1:76-79

I read this verse of the day this morning and immediately had to go read the rest of the chapter. This portion comes at the end of Zachariah's song, after the birth of his son John, who will grow to be John the Baptist. When I finished reading the chapter, I thought about being Elizabeth or Zachariah shortly after this moment. When Zachariah was sharing his prophecy about his son, he was full of the Holy Spirit, and praising God with his heart and soul, but what about a little later on. Maybe the next morning after celebrating long into the night. What about that moment where they held their son and thought of what had been said about him, and then realized the immense responsibility they had for this child. This child had a purpose in life- even just a few hours old, they knew that he was going to be a prophet of God. That really makes me think.

Would I raise my children differently if I knew what they were going to be later in life? If my children were going to be in the ministry somewhere, would that change how I raise them? Well, my first instinct would have been to say that yes, of course it did. If I knew my daughter was going to be a singer, for example, I would have her in voice lessons and choirs and anything that would help her down the road. But then I really thought about my own question. If I knew that Zander was going to be a Pastor someday, as an example, would I raise him any differently? And my answer then was definitely not. I wouldn't raise him any differently than I am right now. It wouldn't do any good to cloister him and shut him off from the world to focus on God and his studies. I do know that once upon a time within the church, when a boy was destined for the priesthood he would go to live with the priests at a very young age to be raised in that atmosphere. I suspect many priests and leaders in the church fell from grace for that very reason. They grew up knowing that there wasn't anything else- they never knew what it was like to be tempted by a friend to shoplift, or to say a naughty word, so when temptation came along later in life, they had no idea how to combat it. So I think that I would try to not raise my children differently, yet I wonder if I would manage that?

I guess whether my children are destined for something important or not is up to God. And I think I don't mean that like it sounds. If God has plans for my children in ministry, he will place that calling upon their lives when they need it. In the meantime though, whether they are to be called to some higher plan or not, they are my responsibility. I imagine that along the way I will have similar moments that Zachariah and Elizabeth had. Those moments where a child does something so incredibly naughty, that I wonder how God could possibly want this child for something. Or those moments where I am filled with incredible love for my children and I wish that God didn't want them for something, so that I could keep them close to me forever.

Sometimes I am overwhelmed when I think about the actual responsibilities involved in raising my children, I'll admit that freely. I wonder often if we do enough- do we talk about God enough with them? Are we being enough of an example? Do I pray enough for my children? I guess in the grand scheme of things, these are all excellent questions, because as long as I am asking them of myself, I am doing all of them. When I stop questioning I've become too confident, and that's probably not a good place to be.

And just as Zachariah was filled with joy at the birth of his son, it seems that most days these days, I am filled to bursting with joy at my children. They've just been something special lately, and it's been an incredibly fun holiday season with them. I am so thankful for the responsibility that God has blessed me with in my children, and I pray that he keeps me mindful of the responsibilities I do have towards these wonderful little people.