An urgent plea to today's parents...

Don't Leave Our Children Behind

by Bishop Raymond Captville

In my presidential sermon during this year’s Annual General Conference, I attempted to show parents how God is reuniting the family. This observation was given to me by God from the Gospel according to Luke 2:46. “And it came to pass, that after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions.”

Recently, during more extensive study in this particular chapter of the Bible, another thought came to me—how quickly we leave our children behind. Three times a year, Jewish men were required to go to Jerusalem to worship (Deuteronomy 16:16), but not all of them could afford to make the trip. If they chose one feast it was usually the Passover; and they tried to take their family with them, since it was the most important feast on the Jewish calendar.

People traveled to the feast in caravans, with women and children leading the way and setting the pace, while men and young men followed behind. Relatives and entire villages often traveled together and kept an eye on each other's children. Jesus easily could have gone from one group to another and not been missed. Joseph might have thought Jesus was with Mary and the other children, while Mary supposed He was with Joseph and the men, or perhaps with one of their relatives.

They had gone a day's journey from Jerusalem when they discovered Jesus was missing. How quickly we leave our children behind! As is often the case, perhaps Mary and Joseph were caught up in the lingering excitement of the Passover. Perhaps they were tired and exhausted from the activities at the feast. Or perhaps they just took for granted that Jesus knew to leave when they left.

Whatever the circumstance, the child was not with them, and a day’s journey passed before he was missed. Joseph and Mary placed no blame on family members or friends. They knew Jesus was their child, and it was their responsibility to make sure he was with them when they departed Jerusalem to return home. Because of their failure, both parents went back to look for him. They didn’t send anyone else; they returned themselves.

How far will you travel before you realize your children are not with you? When will we realize they are a special gift from God and require special attention from us? When will we realize that failure to give them special attention allows the enemy (Satan) to do so?

So many things distract us and cause us to leave our children behind—simple things such as a favorite television show. Because we do not want to be interrupted, we offer them the computer for the next hour.

Our jobs become our priority instead of our families, when it should be God first, family second, and job last. How often we convince ourselves we’ve had a long day at work and because we are exhausted we need to unwind and relax.

When will we stop trying to convince ourselves we cannot afford to take our children to our conventions and small vacations, but we faithfully pay for selfish day-to-day habits?
When will you return to look for your child? Each precious day God allows us is an opportunity to return and look for our children. The time is now. Don’t leave our children behind.

About the Writer: Bishop Raymond Captville, D.D. is serving a third term as general bishop of the Western Division of Free Will Baptists. A native of Abbeville, Louisiana, he currently resides in Baton Rouge with his wife Jenniver.