Inheritance and Education

Colossians 3:23-24


"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."




Psalm 127:3


"Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from Him."




This particular post is meant, not to be a politically correct pat on the back, but to be an encouragement to parents for following the will of God in raising your children, particularly in the area of education. There are many options and God has one that is right for your child. So, what does inheritance have to do with education?



Immediately the story of the prodigal son comes to mind. I believe that the inheritance was given based on the love of a parent for his child, not based on the how deserving the child was. The inheritance was supposed to have come after the father died. As we all remember, the son asked for his inheritance early, and then he squandered it all, before coming home to his father, a broken and contrite man.



I think of the heritage we have as Christians, of the reward we will receive at the end of this life. I think of heaven and the promise, that it will one day be my home. My Father has already died and though I don't deserve heaven, my Father loved me and put it in His will for me. But before He hands it over, He means for me to live. I think of the two precious children God has given to me in this life. I am so very, very blessed. They are God's gift to me, regardless of what I choose to do with them. My inheritance is not just eternity but responsibility. I could squander the time I have with my children. I could waste the opportunities I have been given in them, and I would still be a Christian. I would still inherit eternity in Heaven.



But the question is whether or not I will return to my Father empty-handed. You see, what I do in this life does matter. Good works do matter. Many scriptures discuss doing good, to receive an eternal reward. Heaven has already been guaranteed for the Christian. But God poured His Holy Spirit into each Christian, and part of the fruit of the Spirit is "goodness". So just because we did not deserve our salvation or do anything to earn it, does not mean that God did not call us to do good works. He did!



He has called me to do good each day with the reward of my two children. He has called me to love and nurture, teach and train, encourage and correct. And being the complete God that He is, He also provided a manual to follow in raising them. They did, indeed, come with instructions! God's word (both written and implied) holds the answer to any parenting mystery I will ever face, AND it is perfect for my two children. Everything, even their education is addressed.



My husband and I believe very strongly that God instructed us to put our oldest child (the little one is too young) in a public school in our city. The decision was not an easy one for me, as I assumed His will would be very different. So I scoured the Bible looking for any proof that what God had whispered into my heart was true. My questions, one by one were answered. My fear dissolved and peace filled my heart.



Am I saying that public school is God's will for every child? Absolutely not! What I am saying, is that God calls us to work at raising our children as working for Him. That means that we have to start by asking Him what He wants us to do. Maybe His will is for us to home school our children. Maybe His will is for us to put our children in a christian school , or maybe His will is for us to enroll them in a public school. Whatever His will, He calls us to sacrifice. He calls us to stretch and grow. Whatever His will, you can be sure it will include love, instruction, correction and discipline. Whatever His will is for your children, you can be sure it is perfect.



God means for us to do our best for Him in what He has called us to do. I find that I can spend an amazing amount of time on my child's education, and I am not even his teacher. I can invest a great deal into relationships with his teachers, administrators, and classmates. I can invest in the quality of time I spend with him when he is at home. Because it is not about his education or even about how he turns out, but it is about working for the Lord in my roll as a mom. I pray that one day, when I enter into Heaven, what I have done "good" will include parenting my children with all my heart as unto the Lord. I pray that they will be the crown I lay at Jesus' feet.



What is your story?