Original Post: Sheltering Little Mo

I highly suspect that no discerning and loving parent has ever found raising a child to be carefree and easy in any generation. And every parent has regrets retrospectively and feels they could do better at parenting if they were young and starting all over again.

Imagine a conversation in a home along these lines:

"But he can barely walk! Are you seriously signing him up for hockey, too? Why don't you let Moses relax a little? Isn't Taekwondo, gymnastics, soccer, archery, voice lessons, swimming, pre-kindergarten classes, his four-wheeler, his miniature dirt bike, little snowmobile and Sunday School enough for him?"

Can’t you see Amram and Jochebed awake at night, wondering what else they could enroll Moses in!

"Dear, I'm afraid Moses will be bored and deprived of many things. We want to raise a well-rounded boy, not a loser. If he's ever going to make it in this world, he needs to get a taste of as many things as we can squeeze into his day."

"You're right, Amram. We want to raise a winner!"

Be sure of this — Moses’ parents never had such a discussion! Their overriding concern was to shelter Moses from the lifestyles of Egypt with a view to his becoming a man that God could use. They didn’t push him out into the currents of the mighty Nile.

Pharaoh’s order to dispose of all the Hebrew male infants in the river was cruel — infanticide. Amram and Jochebed did everything they could to shelter their infant Moses. As many Godly parents do, they would talk and sing about the true God to baby Moses, even if he was too young to understand.

But the time came when baby Moses could no longer be hidden. Observe the parents select the reeds to build the most water-tight basket-boat ever constructed to house their cherished possession – their boy! They left nothing to chance. They took every precaution. With tears and prayers, they gently set the little boat afloat among the reeds growing at the great river’s edge. And then the worried watch started. Even sister Miriam did her part in carefully watching and intervening wisely.

When the Egyptian princess hired Mama Jochebed to care for the infant, we can only imagine the mother’s thrill to have her boy back in her arms and in their haven of safety. They knew their opportunities to influence the little boy would be short-lived. With every decision they made, every instruction they gave, and every spare moment they had, they would deliberately and diligently work hard at instilling their values, priorities, and spiritual understandings into the mind of young Moses.

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child (a child of destiny with great potential) and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. Hebrews 11:23-26

When you become a parent, how will you raise your child? Will you try to raise him to be a winner in the world, or will you raise him, fully expecting him to trust Christ and live his life for the Lord? Will your child be brought up in a home that revolves around the Lord and God’s things?

The most significant Ivy League School your children will ever attend is the one in your kitchen and the hallways of your little home. They should quickly learn that all the fun and healthy youthful activities they participate in are all secondary to the things of God.

They are stellar students at this school. Children are very perceptive and lightning-speed learners. They clue into what’s important for mom and dad and what the priorities of the home are, despite all the spiritual talk they may hear from our lips elsewhere. They know what goes on in the hallways of their home.

Your own life each day for the Lord that will span the toddler-to-teen years will be more credible and influential than any last-ditch attempt to salvage your fourteen-year-old from the bad choices looming on the horizon. It’s often far too late to start applying the brakes at that point. It can be too late and awkward in their mid-teens to begin trying to build a network of Christian young people.

As a parent, are you accelerating your child’s closeness to the world? Shouldn’t you be applying the brakes during the pre-teen years? Do anything you can to slow down their appetite for the world. And start very early. Our children will feel the powerful pull of the world’s currents soon enough without expediting the process by the decisions we make.

If my child turns out to literally love what I am innocently introducing him to, will I be happy with the outcome later in life? And be sure of this: what I introduce, permit, and allow into our family life will be taken further by my children.

Think long-term.

Timothy’s mother and grandmother planted the Scripture in Timothy’s mind when he was just a child. (2 Timothy 3:14,15) Consistent teaching and daily God-focused intentional influences in the home were God’s intention. (Deuteronomy 6:6–7) To fathers, Paul wrote: “…bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)

No amount of sheltering or nurturing our children in the ways of the Lord is a guarantee that they will choose Christ and be saved for eternity. But at least parents, while they wait for salvation blessing, can live with a clear conscience that they’ve done everything possible to shelter their child in the bulrushes.