Our Kids

The young of the flock will be dragged away; Jeremiah 50:45

This was part of my daily reading a few mornings ago. The verse hit me in the gut and has stuck with me. While the context is God’s revenge on Babylonia, it is true in so many other ways today too.

I have a 12-year-old daughter and teach 2nd Grade Boys Sunday School. The thought of our young being dragged away by Satan is really a vivid image and a very real concern. The prowler seeks the young and picks them off one by one. Tantalizes them with a glittery world. Pulling them away from the flock and then tangling them in the wrong things to make them easy prey.

The mantra in their heads - “Do not risk being excluded from the cool crowd. You don’t want to be one of those kids do you? There is always time for that stuff later in life. One more day will not hurt anything.”

I am coming to the conclusion that Satan’s biggest tool is procrastination. If he can get us to wait just a little longer then his job is simply to keep us where we are.

Heard a statistic not too long ago that 85% of all Christians made their decision to accept Christ by 13 years of age. See how it works? “Don’t make that decision yet there is plenty of time in your life.” Does that stat scare you as much as it did me?

My daughter became a Christian two years ago and was the proudest day of my life. I know pride is not a Christian thing but I will boast in what God has done in her life. However, how sad to think there are people her age that statistically may never know God because they can't get over the pressure they face against stepping out in faith. I pray so much for the proper influences in their lives.

Teaching Sunday School, we see all types of young people. The cross section is wide. It is hard not to think of a church full of kids raised in “normal” active Christian homes with a mom, dad and their 2.5 kids. Those kids are there but also the ones that show up from virtually every other stage of life too. The single mom, running late, drops off at the door, looking for that one hour to get a chance to feed herself spiritually. Grandparents bringing their grand kids hoping to give them a once a week exposure to Christ that the kids never see in their own homes. Parents who are astonished when you tell them their child is learning so much and is becoming a leader in the class. Then there is kid that sits quietly, only there because he has to be, you want to connect with him so much because you see he may be one that will be dragged away.

Our kids are a battlefield. Pray for them that they stay close to the flock and always keep a watchful eye.