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The Tri-County Journal
& Chattahoochee Chronicle
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Buena Vista, GA 31803
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How many birthdays do your children have?
Two years ago, our son accepted Jesus as his Savior. On May 5, 2004, he was "re-born" into the family of God. In John chapter 3, Jesus explained to Nicodemus how he could be saved. Jesus said, "Do not marvel that I say to you, 'You must be born again.'" The only way in which we can enter the kingdom of God is to be born again. Nicodemus had a hard time understanding this concept. He understood the first birth that we all experience on our actual "birthday." However, the idea of "re-birth" was foreign to him. We are re-born when we accept God's free gift of salvation from sin through His Son's death and resurrection. Jesus conquered sin and death so that we can experience not only physical birth, but also, spiritual birth.
As wonderful as it is to experience the joy of bringing a child into the world through the act of physical birth, the greatest joy comes when you see your child give his/her heart to the Lord and experience spiritual birth. Before we accept Jesus as Savior, we are spiritually dead. All parents want the best for their children. God's best is the miraculous gift of salvation that He offers to all who will accept it. What are you doing to lead your children to this place in their lives? We have so many responsibilities as parents. Our greatest responsibility is to lead our children toward a saving knowledge of Jesus. In Deuteronomy 6:7, God commanded the people of Israel to, "Teach them [God's commands] to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." God desires for us to be diligent in teaching our children about Him.
Are you doing all you can to help your children grow toward or in their relationship with God? The best way in which we can teach our children about the Lord is through our example. Our children must see evidence in our lives of our love for the Lord. Do we attend church regularly? Do we read and study God's Word on a regular basis? Do we "love our neighbors as ourselves"? (Matthew 22:39) Without these examples, children will have a difficult time finding their way to the Savior. We are careful to model good table manners, polite social graces, and to place importance on success in sports and school. However, the most important thing we can do as parents is to model a close walk with the Lord and to pray diligently for the salvation of our children. I look forward to the day when we can celebrate two birthdays each year for both of our children. What a joy that will be.
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