Walking in the Ways of the Lord

By Eden Raquintan

The prophet Samuel was one of the greatest men in the Old Testament. He was so named because his mother, Hannah, asked him of the Lord. Hannah was barren so she petitioned the Lord to give her a son with the promise that he shall serve Him all the days of his life. He started serving the Lord at a very tender age (at 4-5 years old) and did so faithfully until his death.

Unfortunately, the Bible does not speak well of his sons for they “walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.” (1 Sam. 8:3). Samuel was a man completely devoted to do God’s will, but his sons were not. Yes, when Samuel was old he made them judges over Israel, but they did not turn out to be the good judge that he was. They served God, but not faithfully.

As a mother, it is my prayer that someday my children would become the Lord’s servants in our church because I want them to experience the blessing and the joy that goes with faithful service to the Lord. However, I know that it will still take much teaching, nurturing, disciplining, and praying before I could see the fulfillment of my longing. Molding them in His precepts is not an easy task at all. I’m afraid that it is really getting harder and harder for us parents to teach our children to become faithful followers of the Savior.

These are dangerous times. I can wholeheartedly agree with Paul when he said, “perilous times shall come…” in 2 Tim. 3:1 ff. They have, indeed, come. Many of the characteristics of men described in this passage can be seen among us, and our children are not isolated that we can be sure they won’t be affected. The influence of the world is very much felt in many Christian homes.

Television is a powerful medium that has invaded most Christian homes to the destruction of our children. It has been a constant struggle for me and Pastor Jed if we are going to allow our children to watch tv regularly on weekends. Programs that promote homosexuality, fornication, rebellion (in the guise of freedom), and other ungodly acts are all over television. Constant exposure to these could make such loathsome acts acceptable to the viewers in the long run. If uncontrolled, it could also take much of their time which they could have spent in Bible reading, studying, or doing household chores and other more profitable endeavors.

Unknowingly, many of us have also allowed materialism to creep into our homes. A young boy who owns an old model mobile phone once told me, “Nakakahiya po itong cellphone ko kasi, hindi pwedeng idisplay.” Do people have cellphones in order to flaunt them? There‘s a couple who chose to pull out their son from a certain private school because he was gradually adopting the ways of his classmates. He was beginning to think that they were rich enough for him to be able to buy expensive toys, to frequently eat at fastfood chains, and to always go shopping at the mall. One parent aired her concern that the Christian School where her children are enrolled seems to be setting a tradition of having those who are celebrating their birthdays to have a party in class! I overheard another young man, pointing to his shoes, saying, “Hoy, branded ‘to. Galing ‘to abroad!” Are we not loving the world more than the things of God?

Difficult as it may seem, we have to do something about our situation. We should not let our children imbibe more of the world and less of God. One way is to have them join church activities instead of staying at home and watching tv or hanging around with unsaved classmates. Some of our young people come here every Saturday to conduct Bible Studies in the neighborhood and nearby communities. Sunday afternoons are spent in devotions, fellowship, and related activities. Secondly, let us diligently study God’s Word and teach our children the same. Do not just wait for Sunday for them to hear it. If they are not used to hearing His Word daily they won’t automatically be interested to hear it when they go to church. Lastly, let us walk our talk. We ought to be our children’s model, not the celebrities they see on television. No matter how much of God’s Word we teach them, as long as they don’t see it translated into our lives, they will not heed. Let us not walk as Christians on Sundays only. Let us walk as Christians should walk every single moment of our lives, whether our children and other people see us or not. God forbid that we would be the ones to influence our children to fall away from God’s truth.