Laying up in store for our children

I was watching a nature programme on television about Hermit crabs.  They are fascinating creatures. They live inside empty sea shells that wash up on beaches. The narrator reminded us since they are ever growing they need to move house from time to time. When the shell they live in becomes a little too bijou they need to trade up to a bigger house. 

If there is a crowd of them on the beach they do a most amazing thing. They all measure each other up, then line up one behind the other in single file, starting with the biggest to the smallest, behind a big empty shell. Then they patiently await a bigger crab come an occupy the biggest shell. Then when he sheds his shell the other one in line occupies his shell. This happens all the way down the line until the smallest one at the end gets his new home. They line up in single file to have easy access to a new abode. They line up also to do it quickly as their soft body tissue would be scorched in the hot sun, and also because at the point of transfer they are easy prey to predators. 

This got me thinking. We, especially those of us who are parents, ought to be leaving something for our children coming behind. What are we passing on to the next generation? We have grown and matured, they are growing and developing also. What are we leaving them that will fit them for their next stage of development? Yes, of course we want to leave them with good values, the ability to make sound and wise decisions, the sense of being responsible citizens, and to contribute to life around them in a positive and constructive manner.  

But above all that, which should be the basic desire of every parent, there needs to be a spiritual dimension to fit them for service in the kingdom of God. Paul writing to Timothy, the young man he mentored, was quick to acknowledge the heritage Timothy was left with through his mother and grandmother. 11Timothy 1:5 “When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and am persuaded is in you also.” Timothy was blessed to have lined up behind those two Godly women. What a difference that had made in his young life.

John and Charles Wesley owe much of their spiritual influences to their mother Susannah. She was a woman of prayer. No matter how busy her day was with a very large family, she always took time during the day to pray. Even pulling up her apron over her head to let them all know, ‘mother is praying now, do not disturb.’ So, let us leave a legacy behind for our children to aspire to.  

- Pastor David Goudy