SJ, EJ and JC | Namuco Brothers

It is true that a picture is worth a thousand words. This image of my oldest son, JC, who is now taller than me at age 12, while carrying his youngest brother, EJ,  who just turn 6 years old today, and my middle son, SJ, approving the scene, conveyed a message every father longs for his sons, and that is to be in the same page whatever happens. My youngest son had a health issue (failure to thrive) when he was born and his siblings are pretty much aware of EJ’s predicament. He needs some liftings as the same as what my oldest son did to him at this picture. 

The Bible says in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and even he when is old, he will not depart from it.” It does not guarantee a smooth path for our children but it is worth it. Every child’s future has a lot of uncertainties. As a father, my duty is to direct my three sons and my daughter’s path toward God. This is not a passive calling for parents. This is an intentional, sustained, Lord dependent shepherding of our children’s heart. 

I dedicated all of my kids to God in the way of wisdom and life rather than of foolishness and death. If they left to themselves, they are lacking in good judgment because their hearts are filled with innocence and foolishness. Without discipline, they can break my heart and my wife ‘s heart which is tragic. Proverbs 29:15 says, “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.”

If you are a parent, Proverbs is a good book to start with by calling your son and daughter to spiritual trajectories to avoid foolish decisions that they are susceptible today. It teaches us principles that unless God intervenes and His words sink in to our children’s heart, our advice is futile. I rejoice in the directions God’s word is providing us, my wife and I, to intentionally and actively offer our 4 children to represent Christ and His glory in this life. 

Proverbs 22:6 also reminds me how much I, my sons and my daughter, fail in some ways. I do rejoice in the power of the Gospel to straighten my crooked life and the stone heart of my children. 1 John 1:9 says, God is faithful to forgive our sins and imperfections and in Isaiah 1:18 says, “...though our heart is red as crimson, they shall be white as wool.”

- Pastor Celso C. Namuco