Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.” But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die. Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, are able to endure, until I come to my lord in Seir.” Genesis 33: 12-14, NKJV.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the privilege we have of worshipping You in the beauty of holiness. May Your mercy rest upon us and guide us into all truth as we study Your Word. This we ask in the holy name of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Today I want us to take a few minutes and meditate upon the fact that our children are adults in the making. They are not born adults. I pray that the day will come, when a course in Child Development will be made available to all parents, and parents-to-be. It would be wonderful, if, as soon as a couple become aware that they are pregnant, they could go to the clinic, or hospital, and sign up for the course. It would be even more wonderful if this training could be ongoing. I sure wish that I had had this wealth of information made available to me, as a young mother.
I believe that we have looked at this text before, but from a parent’s perspective. Today we will look at it as it applies to the child. ” ‘ “My lord knows that the children are weak[.]” I believe that in our society this fact has been grossly overlooked; perhaps even ignored! Because our society is so fast paced, it seems that in many households, the idea is for children to grow up fast. Children move too slow for some parents. This idea that children are small adults, have been dealt with from one perspective: They have rights that should be respected. I say a hearty “Amen” to that! Today, the burden of my heart is, “They are children. Let them enjoy their childhood, and facilitate a healthy adulthood.”
Much to my sadness, I see too many little girls “dressed down,” and “made up,” even more than some adult women! The amount of cosmetic on their precious little faces causes the innocence that has been put there by the Creator, to become somewhat blurred. This is so unfortunate, when you think of how this puts these little girls in jeopardy, both emotionally and physically. I am talking specifically of some of these Child Beauty Pageants that have become so popular in our society. Children who should be playing freely, inventing their own games, setting their own goals according to their abilities, are introduced into this adult world; with its rules and goals that are set by adults, having an agenda which does not take into consideration the fact, that at this stage in their lives, they are too weak! Let me share a brief quote with you:
“During the development stage that Erickson calls initiative versus guilt, young children’s self-esteem is largely defined by the skills and competencies that demonstrate their independence and initiative. Most preschoolers leap at almost any opportunity to show that ‘ “I can do it!” ‘ Spontaneous play becomes goal-directed; children not only want to do something (as Piaget’s sensorimotor intelligence or Erickson’s autonomy stage), they want to begin and complete their own activities for a purpose (Lysynki, 1998). According to Erickson, as the larger society motivates them to take on new activities, children develop their sense of themselves and others, feeling guilty when their efforts result in failure or criticism. Social awareness becomes evident” (The Developing Person, Through The Life Span, pp. 271, 272).
Need I say more my friends? And I have only mentioned the emotional harm that we are causing our children as we force them into the cold, cruel, calculating, world of adults! But we also endanger them physically, when you realize that attending many of these activities are adults, who are psychologically sick, and could, if given the opportunity, bring physical harm to these innocent little ones! Some adult minds are so affected that they cannot separate an adult from a child. They simply go by what they see. If a child is dressed up like an adult, they will think about them as such, and treat them as such, if given the opportunity.
Let us listen to Jacob today, and let us remember that our children , are not born adults, they are born as precious little children who, at certain stages of their lives, are too weak to live in an adult world!
We will continue on this same topic tomorrow!
NOTE: These counsels are shared from a Biblical, not a clinical, perspective.