Turning the Hearts of Parents to their Children

I met Kerry Dean two years ago in the United States through a mutual friend. Married to a wonderful man, a mother of four, and a grandmother of seven, she is a woman who loves God wholeheartedly. As a physician, she practiced emergency medicine for 14 years until the Lord called her to stay home with her children. She regularly contributes to my blog, www.avividlife.co.za, for she loves reading and digging into the Word of God, finding truth and treasures along the way, and then graciously sharing them with others. 

TURNING THE HEARTS OF PARENTS TO THEIR CHILDREN

 In Luke, chapter 1, we are told that the birth of a particular child would precede Jesus’s birth by a few months. That child would be named John (meaning “God is gracious”), and he would be born to an elderly couple, Elizabeth, who had been barren and was beyond her child-bearing years, and her husband, Zechariah, a priest. John’s birth and life would serve a tremendous purpose — in fact, God’s express purpose.

 John would be “a joy and a delight to [Elizabeth and Zechariah],” and “many would rejoice at his birth, for he would be great in the sight of the Lord.” (Luke 1:14-15) It wasn’t just the miraculous nature of his conception and birth that would cause people to rejoice, but also the certain knowledge that this child was “great in the sight of the Lord.” John would be “filled with the Holy Spirit even before [his birth].” Imagine that! In accordance with God’s magnificent purpose, he would “go on before the Lord … to bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.” (Luke 1:16) Possessed of “the spirit and power of Elijah,” John would, in advance of Christ’s coming, “turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous.” Why? “To make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17) — meaning, exactly prepared,exactly made ready, precisely according to God’s design and will.

 Jesus was coming, and God was preparing the way for Him! He was preparing people, making them ready to meet and accept their Saviour. Before they would ever be ready, though, their hearts must “turn”. This would happen through John’s ministry.

 “Turn” — what does this mean? It means to cause an about-face, to turn people from the wrong direction in which they are going, one determined by selfishness and godlessness, and to put them on the right path, one of righteousness and wisdom. Furthermore, it means to return or to be brought back. People would return to God. They would be brought back again (or brought for the first time) to the only place they and their families could truly flourish and thrive — loving God, following and obeying Him, and staking their lives on Him. Here alone is where they would find hope, joy, and peace, abundant and satisfying life.

 And what is the “heart” (Greek, kardia)? It is the inner self, the centre of one’s being, the disposition of a person’s soul. It is the will, desires, and intention of a person. Best stated, it is “the ‘desire-producer that makes us tick,’ our ‘desire-decisions’ that establish who we really are.” (HELPS Word-studies, “kardia”)

 It is interesting that God sought first the turning of parents’ hearts to their children. This tells us a few things.

First, it tells us that people devoid of faith in God will be, to one extent or another, hard-hearted. They are, at the very least, hard-hearted toward God, and this heart-condition becomes pervasive, extending even to children and adversely affecting the culture as a whole. When the hearts of individuals are not in the right place, attitudes, choices, and decisions (“desire-decisions”) will be flawed as well as harmful.

 Parents who have no interest in God will, by default, be unconcerned or ignorant in regards to the spiritual wellbeing of their children. Teaching their children about God, about His love for them, and about His ways will, for them, be something they had never considered. Or they may view it as unimportant and even nonsensical. Whatever the case may be, this deficit leaves a huge, aching void in the soul of a child.

 That God sought to turn the hearts of parents to their children tells us something more. It tells us that the parents’ hearts were set elsewhere — most certainly on self and the pursuit of selfish desires — but not on their children. “Parental fidelity … had decayed.” (Jamieson-Fausett-Brown, on Luke 1:17).

 Children know when their parents’ hearts are set elsewhere, and not on them. They feel it, and it hurts and leaves scars. They suffer in many ways, too, when parents have hearts that are hard toward God. It was obvious then, and it is obvious now. Hearts like these “are not safe.” (Bengel’s Gnomen, on Luke 1:17)

 Devotion to God, beginning with the parents, is good for families. It is “the surest band” — like none other — of love and affection, devotion and glad responsibility. (See Benson Commentary, on Luke 1:17.)

 God’s purpose for John, turning the hearts of parents to their children, furthermore tells us that God loves and cares about children — all children, every child — and that He desires only the very best for them. “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘ plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29:11)

 What are God’s plans for children? What is His heart’s desire? It is that every child will grow and become established under the love, nurture, training, and authority of parents whose hearts are fully set on Him and, as it follows, on their children. In this atmosphere and under these circumstances — in the glow and warmth of God’s presence and love and that of their parents — children will flourish and thrive. They will be equipped with the knowledge of the Father, of His unfailing love, perfect ways, and enduring faithfulness. They will receive hope that is real and ever-present, because of who He is. They will be given an anchor for their souls, a firm foundation upon which their lives can be built, and a guiding light in all the years that come. This is the life God lovingly plans and deeply desires for each and every child!

 Lastly, this work of God, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, was done before they ever met Christ. Before they knew Him. Before they were saved. Surely God does the same thing in our day and age. He works the “soil” of our hearts — shallow, hard, rocky, infertile, and weed-ridden as it may be — even before we have accepted Him, in order that we are made ready to receive Him. In this way, too, He works on behalf of children — our children.

 Yes, God still works to turn the hearts of parents to their children — He must — because the human condition is the same now as it was then. He still works to turn the hearts of parents to Him. He still works to restore family life, as it was meant to be. And that is good news! Jesus is good news — for parents, for children, and for families! He is good news for the world!