he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. Eph. 1:9-14
Why did we have children? I don't know if we ever asked that question, we rather asked, "Do you want kids?" and "How many?" My guess is that it is part of the family package deal ; marriage + kids = family. We enjoyed being in a family and so having kids would perpetuate enjoyment. Maybe we just have love inside of us to give. Maybe we are interested to see what our genetic code will produce - will they look like me or her or a combination. Maybe it's peer pressure. All I know is that my wife was made to be a mother and the kids were so fulfilling that we had four. We even contemplated having five because we couldn't imagine life without our four, we felt like we were depriving ourselves and our world of a fifth child. But alas, we decided not to. Even God stopped creating and rested and said, "it is good."
What I didn't realize when thinking about a family, and what I could never have understood about Paul's writings, like in verse 12 without them, is how much they glorify my wife and me. Just them carrying our last name through 12 years of school, 4 years of college, then some in graduate school, then marriage, starting a family of their own, then career, and doing it so well makes me beam with pride. They have all represented our name so well everywhere they go, so much so that people ask us to teach classes on parenting. We have been glorified by them!
I realize that we are blessed and the exception, because most parents have at least one child that doesn't glorify their name. They are a detriment to society and a shame to their parents. As we think about God and His creation of us and His choosing us to be adopted into His family as a brother or sister of Christ, we have to ask ourselves, "Why did God decide to start a family?" I think there are multiple reasons. First of all, He is a creator so naturally He wants to create and show this ability to the Heaveny Beings. Second, He is Love and how would any of the Heavenly beings understand the depth of His love without mankind and His whole plan of redemption with subsequent adoption?
But lastly, like with me and my family, the glory and pride received from seeing your children represent is worth all the diaper changes, packed lunches, laundry loads, science fair projects, T-ball games, AYSO soccer coaching, sitting in drop off and pick up lines, shoe finding and occasional spankings that never seemed like they would end. Now looking back on it, if I didn't have them, life would be so empty. And the fact that they all are following Jesus and teaching their families to do the same, glorifies my wife and I non-stop.
The question is, are you a child that is glorifying the name of Jesus by your life, or are you the one that is bringing shame to the Father? Is He saying in the Heavenlies, "Have you considered my servant Job (Jim)?", or is He hoping no one is watching you? Is He bragging on you or is He ashamed of you? It's not too late to start afresh.
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