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This
article attempts to help remove some of those wrong philosophies and
to give parents understanding of what it really means to dedicate a
child to the Lord.
DEDICATION IS NOT A RITUAL
For those
who have grown accustomed to the “rituals” of christenings, it is very
hard to see dedication as something different.
There is
nothing in the Bible that commands us to have a formal ceremony to
picture dedication. Though it is not wrong to have some type of
ceremony, it is not commanded and it is not something that God expects
every parent to perform.
There is no
power or blessing in a ceremony. Going through a public display of
child dedication will not have any magical effect or add any divine
blessing to the child. A child is not given a name nor is it anything
significant other than Christian parents letting others know publicly
what they have decided in their heart.
Therefore,
parents who choose not to publicly dedicate their child should not
feel that their child is “missing out” on something special that God
has for them.
DEDICATION IS A DECISION OF THE HEART
The reality
of child dedication is not found in a ceremony or ritual but in a
genuine desire of the parent’s heart.
In the
Bible, Hannah’s dedication of her son Samuel is a wonderful example of
what dedication means. Hannah had been childless and prayed fervently
for God to send her a son. She promised God that if He would give her
a child she would dedicate him to God and he would become a servant to
the priest who ministered in the temple. God did give Hannah a son
and Hannah fulfilled her promise. After the child was weaned, she
took him to the temple where he lived till he was grown. Though
Hannah got to visit her son, she sacrificed many happy years when the
boy could have been living at home because of her dedication. She
dedicated the child in her heart and it was lived out in practice.
What is sad
to see is parents who go through the ritual of child-dedication who
have not even dedicated themselves to the Lord, much less their
children. This makes a mockery of the whole affair and it looses its
significance.
Therefore,
we would expect that those parents who want to publicly dedicate their
child to the Lord meet the following requirements:
SAVED:
Those
parents who want to publicly testify that they will dedicate their
child must first be saved. They must know they are born again or else
how can they hope to teach their children to be born again when they
come to age?
FAITHFUL CHURCH MEMBERS:
It is
strange how parents who are not even members of a church want to
dedicate their children to the Lord. The church was established by
Christ to be a place of spiritual nourishment and encouragement for
God’s people. How can a parent say, “I will dedicate my child to the
Lord but I will not become a member of a church which He
established?” Or perhaps one is a member of the church but is not
faithful to the services. This parent is not dedicated! How can he
or she dedicate their child? Is this parent committed to bring their
child to church and Sunday School faithfully so that the child can
learn and grow in the Lord?
SURRENDERED TO GOD:
Hannah was
obviously surrendered to God, else she would not have surrendered one
of the most dearest things to her heart – her son! Dedication is all
about surrender. It is the parent saying before God, “Lord, I
surrender this child to You for You to accomplish Your purposes. I
give this child back to you.”
It is
hypocrisy for a parent to say this concerning their child when they
have not said this concerning their own lives. To examine whether or
not you as a parent have genuinely surrendered (dedicated) your child
to God, ask yourself the following questions:
·
Could I
willingly accept God’s decision to call my child to the mission field,
though it be dangerous and though I would see much less of them?
·
Could I
accept God’s will to take my child to heaven early if it was His will?
·
Could I
happily encourage my son or daughter to forsake an secular career to
follow a call into the ministry?
If we can
not answer “Yes” to all these questions, it is unlikely that we have
truly dedicated our child to the Lord and if we have not, a public
display of child dedication before the church would be meaningless at
best and hypocritical at worst.
WHAT ABOUT GOD-PARENTS OR SPONSORS?
There is
nothing in the Bible about such people. Parents themselves have the
responsibility to train up their children in the things of the Lord,
they cannot shirk this responsibility to someone else.
The Bible
commands parents to teach God’s commands “diligently unto thy
children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and
when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou
risest” (Deut 6:7).
Some
parents may like to call witnesses at the dedication to confirm their
commitment. “At the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word
be established” (2 Cor 13:1). This may be relatives or loved ones who
know the parents well and who are themselves Christians who are
faithful to the Lord.
Child
dedication is a beautiful thing when done with sincerity. Remember,
God used Samuel in a great way and we might never have seen a great
Samuel if we had not seen a genuine dedication from a great Hannah.
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