Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him.” When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always.” “Do what seems best to you,” Elkanah her husband told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good his word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, “As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.
1 Samuel 1:19-28 (NIV)

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever given your children back to God? (Some of you are thinking, “I?d like to give them back?but I didn?t think God would take them back. I thought He had a ?no return? policy on kids! Besides, I lost the receipt!”)

The truth is, there is not a parent here who hasn?t had a few moments or days when they wouldn?t have liked to package up that kid and take him/her back to God?s customer service counter and demand, “I want my money back!”

ILLUSTRATION: Kerryanne and I: “When first married we had 4 theories on raising kids?now we have 4 kids and no theories!” (j/k)

Well today when I ask you if you have ever given your children back to God I?m not suggesting you return your kids to God and try to get your money back. I?m asking this because I believe that this is the best thing a parent could ever do for their child. When I ask this question I?m asking have you ever really:

Recognized your children are a precious gift from the Lord, and they belong ultimately and always to God first?not to you?

Released ownership of your children to Him?understanding God is responsible for the way in which they were designed and already knows the plan and purpose for their future?

Realized God has chosen you to show them His way?

There are many examples of parents in the Bible who brought their children to God and gave them back to Him:

There is the classic example of Hannah bringing her son Samuel (the son for whom she had prayed), and presenting him to God, and handing young Samuel over to Eli the priest. (I Sam. 1:27-28) as was read at the beginning of the service
Then there was Joseph and Mary who brought their infant child Jesus to the temple following his circumcision at 8 days. They brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (Lk. 2:22).

The example I want to focus on today is that of Abraham offering Isaac on Mt. Moriah which is found in Genesis 22. As we take a closer look at this story today I believe I?ll be able to show you why giving your children back to God is the best thing a parent can do.

READ TEXT GENESIS 22:1-13

Abraham literally, totally, irrevocably gave Isaac back to God. I mean, that had to be hard and painful for Abraham. After all:

? Abraham loved Isaac. V.2 God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love, and sacrifice him …”

? Isaac had been a MIRACLE baby. He was born when Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100 years of age.

Just try to put yourself in Abraham?s place for a moment. Imagine how incomprehensibly painful it was for Abraham to strap his dear son on an altar and a stack of wood, raise a knife to slash open that boy?s chest and throat, cremate the body and sit by as he smelled the stench of the burning flesh of his boy?and then watch his son literally disintegrate into a pile of ashes!

Whew! I remember the first time I read this passage after Zachary was born and how it impacted me because I don?t know if I would do what Abraham did?even if God asked me! But in a very real sense, I know I MUST DO THAT with all 4 of the precious children God has given me.

The best thing Abraham ever did for Isaac as his parent was to tie him to that altar and to surrender him back to God?

Had Abraham refused to give Isaac back to God, he would have forfeited all God?s promises and plans for Isaac. Isaac would have lived and died in obscurity?a nomad, and a nobody.
Because Abraham obeyed and gave Isaac back to God, Isaac received the fullness of God?s best plan and promise for his life:

Isaac became a wealthy man.

Isaac became the forefather of God?s own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaac?s life is still having an impact on and blessing millions of people worldwide through his offspring?Jesus Christ.

And so, you and I need to learn from Abraham today. If we refuse and fail to give our children back to God?we may very well be forfeiting God?s best plan and purpose for their lives. And when we entrust our children back to God?we secure for them the covenant of God?s best purpose and plan for their lives.

FOUR ELEMENTS OF GIVING YOUR CHILD BACK TO GOD:

1. Giving your child to God is a CONFIRMATION of your love for God.

The first thing you are saying when you give that child back to the Lord is simply this…that you love God even more than you love that child. Your child is a most prized possession?but don?t allow them to take the place of God! It?s when your mindset is “I love you, child, so much, that I want the very best for you. If that means giving you to God, disciplining you, setting boundaries, adjusting my life for your benefit?I?ll do whatever it takes!”

This is exactly what Abraham proved by his willingness to offer Isaac. He was demonstrating that his love and fear of God were supreme in his life above all else. Abraham loved God above the most prized treasure of his life…his only son Isaac.

“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Matthew 10:37-38 (NIV)

Not only a Confirmation?

2. Giving your children to God is a CLARIFICATION of ownership.

When you give your child back to God, you are openly declaring that:

This child is a gift from God.

This child does not really belong to you.

This child belongs to God.

Recognize that you have the privilege to love and train this child. But this child first belongs to God!

Was this not what had to be on Abraham?s mind when he lay Isaac on the altar? Was he not saying, “Lord, this young man belongs to you?not me?” He was saying, “You do with him as you please. He?s yours!”

Hey listen! That little boy or girl does not really belong to you?they belong to God! They are a precious gift from God, on loan to you.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.
Psalms 127:3 (NIV)

This implies a couple of important things to remember?

We?d better be careful how we treat and care for God?s property!
God did not authorize the state to raise children. And God did not authorize day care centers or schools to raise kids. And God did not even authorize His church to raise you son or daughter. God authorized Mommies and Daddies to raise kids!

Far too many parents are abdicating their responsibility as parents to raise their children by leaving it up to others. Day care centers, schools can assist in helping the children grow, and churches a very important component in assisting you as a parent in training a child in the things of God and his relevancy to our lives. Yet the primary responsibility for the raising of a child is the parents God has entrusted them to!

Not only a Confirmation, Clarification?

3. Giving Your Children to God Is A COMMITMENT to Raise Your Children God?s Way!

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:4 (NIV)

LISTEN…To give your child to God is not just a CEREMONY…It is a COMMITMENT. It is a commitment that you are going to:

Be a Godly parent.

Teach this child about Christ.

Keep this child in church.
(not sending them with someone else but going with them ? oh and by the way?they will pick up on your priorities?)

Love this child. (even if loving them means disciplining them / letting God discipline you!)

Pray for this child.

Train this child.

Make your home a holy place.

Put away worldliness.

Live a righteous life.

Of course, a glance at that list is enough to make one shudder with the weight of the responsibility and the seeming impossibility of meeting it. But as parent?s it?s important to remember that God will not abandon you to try and do this on your own. But He does want your commitment and that includes follow-through.

I think some people see baby dedication as a magical ceremony. Let me tell you?this little ceremony means nothing?zero?if you are not making a sincere, life-long commitment to raise this child God?s way! I like what Joshua told the children of Israel as they settled into their new home, the Promised Land.

“Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:14-15 (NIV)

In other words, “I want my family to turn out right, and so, as a parent, I?m going to begin to lead them right!” And friends that is the kind of commitment God is looking for in parents today!

Not only a Confirmation, Clarification, Commitment?

4. Giving Your Children To God is a CLAIMING of God?s plan and promises for that child?s life.

Isaac inherited God?s blessings, protection and promises because his dad, Abraham, gave him back to God.

The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Genesis 22:15-18 (NIV)

Your children are blessed by your obedience to God AND cursed by your disobedience to God. It is true they have a free will and are responsible for their own actions but you stack the odds in their favor or against them by the way YOU live! As you obey God with your life, and as you give that child back to God, you are placing your child in the position to receive God?s very best for his/her life.

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

CONCLUSION

So when you give your children back to God?

1) It is a CONFIRMATION of your supreme love for Christ.

2) It is a CLARIFICATION of ownership (God owns that child).

3) It is a COMMITMENT to raise that child under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

4) It is a CLAIMING of God?s best plan and promises for that child?s life.

This is exactly what transpired when Abraham took Isaac up Mt. Moriah and laid him on the altar to give him to God.

1) Abraham was CONFIRMING his love and fear of Jehovah.

2) Abraham was CLARIFYING that Isaac really belonged to God.

3) Abraham was COMMITTING to be a Godly parent.

4) Abraham was CLAIMING God?s plan and promises for Isaac.

Parents don?t miss out on the best thing you can do as a parent! If you never considered these questions then I encourage you to consider them this morning, have you?

Recognized your children are a precious gift from the Lord, and they belong ultimately and always to God first?not to you?

Released ownership of your children to Him?understanding God is responsible for the way in which they were designed and already knows the plan and purpose for their future?

Realized God has chosen you to show them His way?