Psalm 127 says “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate. (NKJV)
Much of the “labor” that parents commonly undertake to build their house is for their children’s sakes. Also, many parents feel overwhelmed raising children and some even call childrearing “toil and labor.” God doesn’t give children as a penalty or as a burden. He says they are a heritage. A heritage = an inheritance. Only from God’s blessing, they are a gift from God. Plus, through them we have the opportunity to leave a heritage ourselves. Children can be ‘agents’ for good if parents know how to receive them, and train them. If parents have practical, biblical tools and show them how easy it can be, they can literally change our society, starting in our own homes.
Parents are likened to warriors. A warrior carefully practices, studies his target and hones his skills. The warrior aims his arrow at the bulls eye. As parents, the direction we aim our children will determine whether or not they hit the mark. And we need to approach this great responsibility with the same attention and seriousness as the warrior does with his arrow. Picture a warrior at the time this was written. Their arrows were made from tree branches. The last time I checked, there were no perfectly straight tree branches and crooked arrows don’t fly straight. So these warriors must have taken these imperfect branches and groomed them and worked them and smoothed out the imperfections until they knew that when they let them go they would meet their intended destination.
The opportunity we have to train, practice and correct our children as we teach them life skills must not be taken lightly and it is a parents God given responsibility to “aim them straight.”
