PARENTS have no right—I put it strongly—to direct their children toward worldly ideas of life. They must remember that God has a prior claim, and that they must answer to Him if they disregard such claim. Why was it that the first-born son was, amongst the Jews, dedicated to the Lord? What meant the presentation of Christ in the temple (Luke 2:22-32) if it placed no accent on this claim of the Almighty? If mothers of old gave their sons gladly and proudly to God; if Hannah stands as a superb example of gracious motherhood; if the enthusiasm of the Roman matron, who preferred her sons to return from battle dead, but victorious, rather than alive and defeated, is an enthusiasm of proud and high-toned womanhood; if life means more than food and clothing and short-timed adulation and honor; if it has an association, through service, with the centuries to come, on earth and in heaven,—then surely the intelligent parent can not but find an impulse too strong for resistance in the guiding of a son Godward from the earliest years, and this guiding will at least suggest the prophetic office.
The Parents' Duty of Direct Influence.
I believe in a positive consecration at birth of the child to God for this holy calling. If the Lord pleases to change the direction of this consecration, then it is well; but the mother has done her duty and exercised her faith and given her gift. Nothing is so deplorable as the day-dreaming of a fond mother concerning her babe's future, mingled, as it so often is, with earthly considerations and human foibles. I would commend the reading of Mrs. Browning's wonderful poem, "Mary to the Child Jesus," as leading to higher and diviner dreams.
Some devout parents hesitate to infringe upon the sacredness of the child's personality, or to seem to assume authority before God, by leading or speaking or praying in the direction of the ministry for their sons. "Must it not be a voluntary offering given in maturer years by the youth himself when he can judge concerning his gifts and the world's needs? Must not God call, and has even a father or mother the right to assume in advance such a call, by leading the easily moulded mind of the child toward a certain goal?" The ready answer is found in the parents' consecration, proved by the very desire and guidance, the love of the heart for God and His work instinctively offering to God the gift of a life.
It is a poor thing that the world, with its chance and changing forces, should be permitted to influence the boy, rather than the earlier and holier affection of the parents. No man wrongly seeks to assume God's part when His only longing is that the child whom God has given shall be given back again to God in the noblest of careers.
The chief difficulty is the worldliness of parents who look for human greatness and power and comfort for their sons. This can be overcome only by a deeper holiness of life and purpose. We need to advance the character of our personal religion in order to attain our aim.
The need of ministers is great. The commonly assigned reasons are faulty. Pastors and Sunday-school teachers and parents hold the issue in their hands. O, for an awakening which shall make us all brave to meet the issue, and to help answer our own prayers when we say, "Lord, send forth laborers into Thine harvest!"
