In this New Year season, I am seeing a lot of friends posting their kids’ first day at school and back-to-school photos on Facebook. Many of these kids are very gifted in their own ways, and still many more have gifts in them yet to be discovered. How our generous Father in heaven has gifted our kids with many gifts indeed.
Jeremiah 1:4-5 reads – Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
If this verse is to be understood as a paradigm for all human beings, it means that before each one of us is born, God has already purposed for us a vocation in which we are to serve Him. In Jeremiah’s case, even before his birth, God had intended for him to be a prophet. And I suppose God must have deposited certain gifts in Jeremiah to aid him in his elected vocation. Thankfully, Jeremiah did not go astray from his calling but followed God’s path for him even though it was a rough journey.
As parents, many a times, we wonder what could possibly be God’s vocation for our kids. If truly, their vocation has already been purposed by God even before their birth, then our responsibility as parents is to use all means to guide them towards their divine calling. And I believe one of these means is to be watchful with regard to their gifting. Besides recognizing their gifting and nurturing them, we also need to let it be known to them that God is the Giver of all good gifts and these gifts that God has blessed them with should be used to serve His kingdom purposes. Offering our kids a sense of divine destiny would go a long way in encouraging them to love the way they are wired up and spur them on to further hone their giftings.
Is your child good in art? Loves music? Great with numbers? Enjoys talking with other kids? Shares his/her possessions naturally? Organizes things effortlessly? James 1:17 says that “every good and perfect gift is from above”. Yet perfect gifts in the hands of imperfect people may wind up being a liability rather than an asset. It is way too easy for us, parents to be so consumed by our kid’s giftedness that we lose sight of its eternal purpose. So we need to ask God to help us to identify and appreciate the unique gifts that He has blessed our children with and also to grant us the wisdom to know how best to keep our kids close to the Lord and direct their giftings unto His kingdom use.
Let’s pray 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV) over our children:
Dear Father God, we pray that _____________ will use whatever gift that he/she has received to serve others, as faithful stewards of Your grace in its various forms. In Jesus’ name, Amen!