Title: Religious children's education (1 Samuel 3:10)
religious children's education
1 Samuel 3:10-14
There was a father who had a son who did not study terribly. My grades kept dropping to the point where I couldn't go down any further. I watched next to my son who was studying and tried tutoring with tweezers at an expensive price, but his son's grades kept dropping. The upset father threatened his son one day, saying, “You bastard! If your grades drop again this time, let's cut ties with the family altogether. Then I knew he wasn't my son. Okay?” The son nodded nervously at his father's words. Finally, the day has come to receive the report card. When he ran into his son from school, the father asked impatiently. “Hey, how are your grades?” Then the son looked at his father with a puzzled expression and said, “Uncle, who are you?”
Parents always want their children to do well. What parent wants their child to be ruined, and who wants their child to be wrong? How many parents live on this earth for their children?
General [Douglas MacArthur], a hero of the Second World War who successfully commanded the Incheon Landing Operation, is famous. “Lord! Raise my children like this. Give me the strength to discern myself when I am weak, the courage to not lose myself when I am afraid, and raise me up to be a child who is not shy about honest defeat and is calm and meek and humble when I win... .omission....don't be stubborn in thinking, but raise up children who know that knowing you and knowing yourself is the beginning of knowledge! Raise me to be a humble child who doesn't judge himself too much. And always remember that what is great is simple, true wisdom is openness, and true strength is meekness! Then, as a father, I will dare to confess this.” General MacArthur, who enjoyed medals, respect and honor through numerous wars, later wrote these words
“Among the many decorations I have received, and the many privileges I have enjoyed, the noblest privilege is the fact that I was a father. I will not exchange this privilege of being a father for any other privilege.”
On the other hand, here is an article written by a boy in the sixth grade of an elementary school. “My father is always very angry. When they come back from work, they come into the house after shouting from the front door, ‘Look at the shoes here, and keep them straight!’ and ‘I didn’t water the pots here!’ It's like this every day. Sometimes, I am moved to find out all kinds of problems, such as the house is full or the mailbox is full, and so on. When eating, he scolds them, 'What is it like to eat rice!' and 'Don't babble and eat rice!' Without my father, there would be no laughter in our house.”
In fact, educating children in this way leads to inflexibility, loss of self-confidence, and often overlooking others. Furthermore, interpersonal relationships are impaired. Excessive repression can easily stifle children's creativity and flexibility of thinking. This cannot be called proper child education.
Now, by the way, there is a worse education for children than this. It is parents who are completely indifferent to their children's lives. Another thing is to neglect your children while looking at them in the wrong way. Children who have gone through this growth process do not learn the things they really need to learn from their father, so they act out of common sense or cause problem behaviors to get other people's attention.
Even in the Bible, there are people who have failed in their children's education. Unexpectedly, the father Eli, who appears in today's text, is a typical type of person. He is a man who failed as a father after neglecting his children without any interest in them.
Eli had two sons, [Hophni] and [Phinehas]. In the future, he was in an important position to take on the priesthood after his father's generation, but due to their own deeds, they were reduced to worthless beings. They were the chosen ones. But he himself gave up on that choice. They were descended from a proud family. But he himself gave up that honor. What kind of sons these two sons were is written very clearly in 1 Samuel 2:12. Why did they become like this? The decisive cause is also said in 1 Samuel 2:12 that they “knew not the Lord.” what do you mean? It is a story of no faith. It means that they were sons who did not lead a proper life of faith. This is a conclusive story. It means that Eli failed to educate his children in the faith from the position of becoming a father. Everyone, no matter how good your family is, what do you do? If you don't have faith, you'll be ruined. What do you do when your honor shines bright? Honor without faith is just bluff.
Today, Eli failed in this religious education. I regret it now, but it's too late. Eli was 98 years old, blind and unable to see, too old to rebuke, and with no influence. No matter what I say, I am now in a position to hear from my children, “Old men nagging a lot.” A common judgement of bad children is that they ignore their parents when they grow old and lose their strength.
Dear saints!
Please don't brag about your family. Faith comes first. Without the education of faith, we will face extinction overnight. Do not risk your life on honor rather than faith. The way for children to really thrive is to stand up as a believer without shame. If you didn't know, you will protect it from today, and if you know you have walked the path of failure, I hope you can realize it today by watching the fall of Eli's family. We hope that we will teach our children not to come to a place where they ask for the curse, and that they do not become foolish parents who, as parents, drive their children to the place of curse.