The Dedication of our Children…to the Lord

“I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.” (1 Samuel 1:27-28 NIV)

Have you dedicated your child(ren) to the Lord?  Do you know what this means?  This is a wonderful gift that the Lord allows us to do for our children and for our sakes too.  Child or Baby Dedication simply means to give them back to the Lord, like in 1 Samuel 1:27-28 (Hannah with Samuel) and also in Luke 2:22 (Mary & Joseph with Jesus).  It’s also an opportunity for parents to publicly declare that the child will be raised in a Christian home and the parents will look to the Lord for wisdom and guidance as they raise their little one.  (And we SURE DO need His help!!  Can I get an AMEN?)

I love what the dictionary definition is for “dedicate”: to set apart and consecrate to a deity or to a sacred purpose; to devote wholly and earnestly, as to some person or purpose.

When we dedicate our children to the Lord early on, we can have the peace that surpasses all understanding that overshadows any anxiety about raising our children.  Our son Matthew is only 3 ½ but has already gone through two surgeries, asthma, broken bones, vaccinations, colds, bumps and bruises, POTTY TRAINING, and so forth and so on.  Just knowing we’ve declared Matthew as God’s kid helps us have that “thick peace” of God’s presence in the scary moments.   God knows we gave Him all authority to direct and guide us in the choices we make for our kids and He is going to do what’s best for them and His glory.

Dedicating your kids to the Lord is so important as a mom, knowing we can only offer “just so much”.  It also serves as the firm foundation of building the blocks to their salvation someday.  It is the building block for us to accept the will of the Lord, and to be able to look to Him for comfort and trust.

A great little site with scripture verses for Child Dedication is http://www.openbible.info/topics/child_dedication.