Gifts From His Hand

There are indeed many good gifts given by the hand of our gracious and good Heavenly Father. Quite naturally our minds beeline to the rich mercy and great love with which God has loved us that while we dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ [Ephesians 2:4-5]. This is the highest peak of the mountain Everest, our salvation, yet there are even more gifts from the Lord. One of those is children.

Psalm 127:3
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.

In Psalm 127, the wise ruler of God’s people, Solomon, reflected upon the vanity of human efforts without God, whether building a city, defending a city, or earning a wage [1-2]. In stanza two, we see another form of building, the raising of a family. Those who marry and are granted the privilege of raising children must do so wisely seeing their children as precious gifts from the hand of the Lord.

It’s incredibly easy for a parent to forget their children are gifts from the Lord, especially when you are staying up late with them, feeding them, cleaning up after they puke, buying clothes, and functioning as a personal taxi taking them from activity to activity. However, those who have experienced the transformative grace of God must guard themselves from this natural human thinking: your children exist because of you. A Christian parent operates from a place of humility because they understanding our children, like our salvation, is solely founded upon ‘Grace Alone.’ Your children, like you “live and move and have our being” because of the Lord [Acts 17:28]. Oh that we might grow to see our children as gifts from His hand and trust that our children are more His than ours.

In the life of Doxa, we like to create space for parents to publicly acknowledge their children are gifts given to them by God. Child Dedication doesn’t guarantee a child will become a Christian any more than purchasing a lotto ticket guarantees a winner. Rather, we see Child Dedication as a commitment to raise your children in fear and admiration of the Lord, while also inviting the covenant community, the local church, to pray, serve, and support the parents in this holy endeavor. Perhaps, you are interested in participating in Child Dedication or even have more questions about it, please free to complete the form in the link below.

For the Glory of Christ,

Pastor Jeth