Child Dedication
Parents are to dedicate their children
to the Lord and commit to teaching them
to do God's will.
Here's Dr. Gene Getz to explain this Principle:
So what we have here is that God
answered her prayer.
Gave her a son.
And she said: I'm going to honor this
when he's weaned, which was
probably about three years old.
And that leads us to verse 26:
"Please, my lord," she said,
"as sure as you live, my lord..."
And she's talking to Eli.
She's back in Shiloh. Probably three years later.
God has answered her prayer.
She's had this little boy Samuel.
She loves this little guy.
She also loves God.
I really believe she does even though she was
very immature in many other respects.
..."Please, my lord," she said,
"as sure as you live, my lord, I am the woman
who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.
I prayed for this boy, and since the
Lord gave me what I asked Him for,
I now give the boy to the LORD. ...
She did not forget her commitment.
...For as long as he lives, [for as long as he lives,]
he is given to the LORD. ...
And by the way, if you will follow the
story of Samuel, you will find later on that
he spent many, probably years back home.
Later, as he reached an older age.
And that's premature at this point in time.
But if you follow the story of what happened.
Once the tabernacle at Shiloh was destroyed.
And it was because of [its] sin and evil,
that Samuel--there was a long period of time
where he probably went back home.
And he probably spent time going back home
even in between times because that
wasn't that far away.
...For as long as he lives, he is given to the LORD.
[And] then he [Eli] bowed and
worshiped the LORD there.
Now in the New Testament, obviously the
Nazarite vow is not repeated for Christians.
But the concept of dedication of our lives
to the Lord because of what He's done for us
is very present for every one of us.
For example, in Romans 12:1 and 2.
Because in Romans 12:1 and 2, God is speaking
to all of us as believers when He says:
Therefore, brothers [sisters],
by the mercies of God...
[In view of what God's done for you.]
I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice...
And it's really interesting the way Paul states that.
He says: I urge you.
He doesn't even say: I command you.
And I think one of the reasons he says
it that way is that God doesn't want us
to respond to a command.
He wants us to respond to His love.
He wants us to respond with a pure heart.
Out of thanksgiving. Out of praise.
...I urge you to present your bodies as
a living sacrifice [Paul said],
holy and pleasing to God: this is your spiritual worship...
In view of what God's done for you,
will you respond and dedicate yourself to Him?
Give your life to Him. And he explains what that means:
...Do not be conformed to this age,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
so that you may discern what is the
good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
So we have a rather all-inclusive
concept here in relationship to our lives
in dedicating ourselves to Jesus.
But we also have, I think, a specific illustration:
Another Sincere Commitment.
And that grows out of Ephesians 6:4:
When we dedicate our children to the Lord,
we are also promising, with God's help,
"to bring them up in training and
instruction of the Lord."
When God gives us children, then we are--
as believers to say: I will bring them
up to worship You. I will instruct them.
I will teach them the will of God.
And so this Principle is incredibly applicable,
I think, to our lives today.
Which leads to the Reflection and
Response question which is:
In what distinctive ways can we
dedicate our children to the Lord and nurture
them so that they will live in God's will?
There is an enduring Principle here of dedication.
Even though this is a unique situation,
a non-repetitive situation in terms of
the Nazarite vow.
Certainly, something God doesn't ask us to do
and take our child to the church
and leave them there under the
tutelage of a pastor.
That's never repeated as a command, as a directive.
In this case it's unique in terms of Israel.
What was happening in Israel at this time.
As far as God's will was concerned,
God's sovereignty was concerned.
But the Principle is still significant
in the sense that we are indeed to
dedicate our children to the Lord.
And the way we do that--certainly
Deuteronomy illustrates it in a
very practical way. Which is applicable today.
Where Moses said to the children of Israel before
they ever went into the promised land:
These words that I am giving you today
are to be in your heart.
Repeat them to your children.
[See the spontaneous moments]
Talk about them when you
sit in your house...
There are natural moments that
come up all the time.
...when you walk along the road...
That was very applicable because they
walked everywhere they went.
We could apply that by simply saying:
When you're driving in your car or
when you're going on a trip.
When you're going somewhere.
...when you lie down...
And that's forever repetitive because
we need sleep. Got to put them to bed.
Which by the way, is the most wonderful
moment to teach children because
most of them don't want to go to bed.
And they might say: Tell me another story Daddy.
Repeat it Daddy.
Say it again Daddy.
And a lot of times it's because they
don't want to go to sleep.
Well take advantage of the moment.
Repeat it, up to a certain point, obviously.
...and when you get up.
As you face a new day, to really thank God
for all that He's done for you and for them.
It might be at the breakfast table.
It might be just a moment before they
go off to school.
There are all kinds of natural moments
when we can do that.
And the Principle that's pretty clear
there from that particular passage.
Principle 11 in Deuteronomy tells us
that we should take advantage of the
teachable moments:
We are to use the natural opportunities
in our daily routines and
relationships to maximize learning
experiences with our children.
But I also believe that this Principle
from the Old Testament
and from Deuteronomy--not just from for 1st Samuel--
indicates that it's very appropriate
for us to really, literally dedicate our children
to the Lord in a more formal capacity.
And there we have to be very careful.
Because there are a lot of people
who believe that when they dedicate
their children, that's the moment of baptism,
in certain situations, and that's when
they're being saved.
And the Bible doesn't teach that.
Child dedication is not child baptism.
If there is child baptism,
it certainly ought to be interpreted as
dedication and not a salvation experience.
And I think in some churches they may
have a baptismal experience for a child
where they sprinkle. But it's clear that
that's not a salvation experience.
The problem is that there are some people
who substitute that experience,
that baptismal experience, for believer's baptism.
And once the child comes to know
Christ personally, they don't
follow it up with believer's baptism.
And I believe the Bible teaches believer's baptism.
Go make disciples, baptizing them--
baptizing those disciples.
Baptizing those followers of the Lord Jesus.
So we need to make sure that people
do not misinterpret what this
experience is when we're dedicating
a child to the Lord.
It's just simply saying, in a sense
what Hannah said.
In essence, what Hannah was saying:
Lord, he belongs to You.
And one of the things that impacted
my life as I grew older--and my mom
shared this with me. And she grew up in a
religious system that didn't practice this,
didn't understand this.
But my mom listened to a pastor on the radio.
And I was born in 1932 so this takes
you way back.
And my mom was listening to a
battery-operated radio about
a hundred miles out of Chicago.
It happened to be coming from
Moody Bible Institute in Chicago--
on the radio station. But they were
airing a message from Dr. Ironside.
Harry Ironside who was at that time
pastor of the Moody Church.
Now the Moody Church is different
from Moody Bible Institute.
But they were airing this message
at Moody Church from Dr. Ironside.
And following the message, he had a
service of dedication for children.
Where parents came forward and
dedicated their children.
Now she had never seen it.
This wasn't television. But she could
imagine people coming down, bringing their babies.
Dr. Ironside praying for those children.
And dedicating them to the Lord.
And my mom told me, she knelt there
in that little farmhouse. No indoor plumbing,
no electricity. Just a battery-operated radio
in her kitchen.
She knelt down, holding me as a baby,
and dedicated me to Jesus Christ.
And she shared that with me after I was
old enough to understand it.
Which meant a lot to me.
And I sometimes feel, as I look back on my life,
it was a very significant moment.
Not just for my mother but for me as well.
And just knowing that impacts my life.
And what I do with my life.
So I think we have wonderful
opportunities as parents to practice this
Principle of dedicating our children to the Lord.
So let me just restate that Principle:
Parents are to dedicate their children
to the Lord and commit to teaching
them to do God's will.
And that can be done in many ways.
It can even be done in our hearts.
It doesn't even have to be a big public demonstration.
Although it's wonderful to share that experience
with others and ask those people to pray.
In dedication services, I like to
challenge people--who know these people
who are dedicating the child--
to join these parents in uplifting them
before the Lord.
Praying that God will give them wisdom
in order to rear their children in the
admonition of the Lord Jesus Christ.