And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. – Ezekiel 16:20-21

Today's Scripture Reading (May 11, 2020): Ezekiel 16

We act as if our children are ours. We think that they are possessed by us to do with as we see fit. But we are wrong. And old African proverb asserts that "it takes a village to raise a child." Maybe that is true, and perhaps it isn't, but whether or not it takes a village to raise a child, there is no doubt that the child belongs to the village. Depending on how the child matures, each one will either bring honor or dishonor to everyone they know. All of the good that is present in this world is present because our children grow up and make a difference in our society. Every adult, every leader alive on the planet, was once a child. We wrote our message on their lives, a word that has matured with every child on the earth. Our children do not belong to us, they belong to society, and it was there that they will make a difference.

But maybe, more importantly, our children belong to God. At best, they are on loan to us. We are given the task to raise them to be the best that they can be, IN GOD. We teach them to love God because we love God. We give them a godly point of view for life because we have a godly point of view for life. The raise them as worshippers because we are worshippers. But our children have only been loaned to us by our God; they belong to him.

And if you doubt that, just listen to God's anger as he speaks to Ezekiel about his children. "You slaughtered MY children and sacrificed them to idols." You used my children to appease your warped idea of the gods. You killed them so that you could have a better life. And that was not why I lent my children to you.

As we read through this passage, we begin to see how seriously God takes the raising of our children. Sometimes, I wonder if this is part of our test of salvation. If you love me, at the very least, you can love my children and bring them up in a positive way. If there is one job that you need to do, this is it; Bring up your children, raising them to be adults, in the love of the Lord.

But what if you can't? I think the first question we need to ask is, why can't we? What are the barriers that are stopping us? Is there a way to remove those barriers? 'I don't have time' just doesn't seem to be a good enough excuse. This is our prime duty. But if it is absolutely impossible to give to our kids the attention they deserve, then maybe we need to give them to those who can. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, during the COVID-19 pandemic, made this comment with regard to the care of our Seniors in long-term care homes. "If you can't care for them, for whatever reason, then transfer them to a place that can. This is the rule. Do it!" The same should be argued at both ends of the age spectrum. God expects us to do the most for his children, and for the weakest and most vulnerable who walk among us. To not do so is to violate the trust that God has placed in us.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 17