Why Children?

It has been said that the only thing needed for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.  It is obvious to see that in our world evil is succeeding, so where are the good men?  Are we to blame?  Where are our children - children of the people of God?  Have we rejected them before they were even conceived?    

Is God really looking for a “few good men?”  Is this why God wants us to have children?  The answer may surprise you.  Not only has God commanded us to fill the earth with children but He has also told us why.    Malachi 2:15 states the reason, “Has not the Lord made them [husband and wife] one?  In flesh and spirit they are His.  And why one?  Because He was seeking godly offspring.”

 Acts 17:26 says,” From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”   Again we see that God makes the person and specifically orchestrates the time and the place for him. But why does He do this?  Verse 27 explains, “God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”

God also gives us another reason for having children.  We are in a spiritual battle and God’s children are a “weapon” or a defense against the Evil One.  Jesus said that He came that we might have life and might have it abundantly, but Satan’s goal is to kill, steal, and destroy.  Though we often think about these concepts in the spiritual realm, they are useless if there is no physical life.  That is why Satan does seek to physically kill people (whether it be cutting them off before they are conceived or sometime afterward) – to put an end to God’s kingdom.  Ephesians tells us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground.”

 Many of us are familiar with the armor of God described in Ephesians 6, but are we familiar with this part of our defense?  Psalms 127:3-5 shows us another piece of our defense, “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him.  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.  They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.” 

Imagine the impact of a godly family designed by God.  Imagine the impact of many children growing up to love and serve the Lord.  How might our community, state, country or even the world look if we allowed God to bless us the children He wants?  How much ground would we be able to recover from the enemy with our troops enlarged?

We are in a battle, according to Ephesians 6.  God does say that in the end times the world will become more and more wicked.  But we are not to stop fighting the good fight.  We are not to stop evangelizing.  We are not to stop procreating.  If, for a time, evil does succeed let it not be because we were negligent.  God has won the victory and will come back as conqueror.  Therefore let us run the race set before us; let us not shrink back.  Let us wholeheartedly commit to following the Lord, trusting in Him and changing our heart to match His.