God commanded the Israelites to celebrate harvest as an acknowledgment of His love, mercy and goodness to them – Deut. 16: 16-17.
He directed that this should be done three times a year in the place which He Himself would choose. In our own time, He has chosen His house for us to assemble for worship and express thanksgiving and gratitude. Actually, Pentecost was celebrated as a feast of Harvest and this was the day the church was born – Acts 1: 1ff.
It should be noted that God enjoys and appreciates thankfulness and praises as a give back from the people He has invested so much in. In Psalm 127: 3a, we are told that children are a heritage from the Lord.. This means that they belong to God, they are ours only in a secondary sense. God gives children to parents, as a man entrusts his fortune to his heirs. He gives to whoever He wishes. We do not have children because we deserve them but, by His grace alone. Therefore, there are things that are expected of us.
First, we are to be grateful to God for having them and this is one of the purposes that the Children and Young People’s Harvest being celebrated today is out to achieve.
Second, because God gives them to us out of His own volition, we have a duty to train them for Him and to His glory. Also because they are God’s heritage, they are meant to grow in His knowledge and wisdom. They are expected to grow to love, follow and serve Him and if this must be so, all parents and guardians will take the Christian and godly upbringing of their children and wards very seriously.
Another passage of relevance here is Proverbs 22: 6, where we are implored to train up our children in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it.
Training of children must start in their formative age so that they will grow up to get used to God’s way. Train up has the idea of a parent graciously investing in a child whatever wisdom, love, nurture and discipline that is needed for him to become fully committed to God.
It presupposes the emotional and spiritual maturity of the parent to do so. In the way he should go is to do the training according to the unique personality, gifts and aspirations of the child. It also means to train the child to avoid whatever natural tendencies he might have that would prevent total commitment to God. Hence, the promise is that proper development insures the child will stay committed to God.
We should train our children to honour constituted authorities and follow instructions. We should discourage rebellion, stubborness and disobedience. We are also to expose them to the word of God through family devotion, exemplary parental obedience to God’s Word and sharing with them God’s faithfullness to His Word and consistent love and reward for those who love and serve Him.
Today as a church, we roll out drums and put on dancing shoes to appreciate God for the gifts of life, good health, daily needs, salvation and redemption, and most importantly, the fruit of the womb. Let us demonstrate our willingness to train all these children as we look forward to a better and greater Nigeria.
Happy harvest celebration. God will watch over our homes and children, and also intervene in Nigeria in Jesus name.