“Better Still the Work Will Thrive…”

Moms ask me regularly if such-and-such age is too soon to begin telling little ones about Jesus. And my answer (as you know by now!) is always the same—it’s never too early to start. In fact, may your children never remember a day when you didn’t talk to them about Jesus, your Best Friend and Savior!

Consider, too, these survey results reported by Elisabeth Elliot in her book, The Shaping of a Christian Family: “People are much more likely to accept Christ as their Savior when they are young. Absorption of biblical information and principles typically peaks during the preteen years… Habits related to the practice of one’s faith develop when one is young and change surprisingly little over time.”

Your goal, then, as a Christian mom is to teach and teach and teach your children about Jesus. To share and share and share with them about Him! To talk and talk and talk about the Savior. English preacher and evangelist C.H. Spurgeon rhymed it this way:

Ere a child has reached to seven
Teach him all the way to heaven;
Better still the work will thrive
If he learns before he’s five.

OLDER CHILDREN

Is your child older than five? Or seven? Or the preteens? Don’t despair! Instead, check your heart (and emotions!) and do the following:

Remember—salvation is God’s job, His work in your older child’s heart.

Pray—fervently for your older son or daughter and faithfully to “God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4). And pray for him or her until you die. Aim the arrows of your prayers for any wayward or lagging children heavenward until your last dying breath. It’s never too late to pray! And it’s never too late for the miracle of salvation!

Talk—to your teens and young adults about Christ. Point the issues in their lives back to Jesus—His teachings, His life, His wisdom, and His ability to help…and to save. Even if they say, “Oh, Mom, there you go again!” go right ahead and talk about Jesus. They act like they couldn’t care less but, believe me, it’s going in! And they are having to process it. I ask you, if they are not going to hear it from you, the one who lives with them and loves them most, then who? You, dear faithful Mom, are the one closest to any of your children who desperately need to hear and know about Jesus.

I’ve shared before in one of my books about Augustine, cited to be one of the greatest of the Church Fathers. For 33 years Augustine scorned the Christian teaching and prayers of his mother, Monica. And yet Monica never gave up. She preached. She prayed. She pursued… until one day, at age 33, Augustine cried out in agony to God, “How long? Remember not the sins of my youth!”

When he told his mom he had at last embraced the Savior, Monica said, “Now I can die in peace.” Her son’s salvation was the only thing on earth she had desired. Monica died five days later, and her son went on from having been a prodigal to becoming a pillar in the church.

Never give up!

RESPOND
God, I thank You for my life, my family, my children, and my faith. When I find myself focusing on my difficulties, may I lift up my hope to Your light and let it cover me in Your radiance.

RENEWING RESOURCE
For more encouragement for a mother’s soul, read my book A Mom After God’s Own Heart.

Read “Better Still the Work Will Thrive…” on Elizabeth & Jim George.