5.  FOR THE SERVICE OF GOD.

Luke 1:15-17 tells us that John was not only given to Zechariah and Elizabeth to give them great joy but for a specific purpose. "He will bring many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God...to turn the hearts of fathers toward their children and the disobedient back to the wisdom of the just, preparing for the Lord a people fit for Him." Every child that God gives to us, comes into the world with a destiny planned by God.

We read in 1 Chronicles 25 that Heman's children gave him more power and blessing. But ultimately these children were given to him to help him in his service for God. "They were all under the direction of their father to sing in the temple of the Lord, for the service of God's temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres." Our children are given to us to train for the service of God. They are given to us to prepare for the specific purpose that God has planned for them.

In Amos 2:11, God says, "I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazarites." God has a purpose for every child.

6.  A GIFT TO THE NATIONS.

Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." As I checked the word "ordained" in my concordance I was amazed to notice that the Hebrew word, "nathan" is a primary root word meaning "to give." God planned Jeremiah's future before he was even conceived! And God gave him as a "gift" to the nations.

Every child is a gift to the world! Isn't that exciting? Our children are not only a gift from God to us, but also a gift to others. Each child God has given you is a gift from God to the world. Who knows which one will be another David, or Paul, or Einstein or Billy Graham! Or anointed and faithful builders, teachers, store managers or whatever! And of course, godly mothers and fathers. Praise God, the world will never be the same because of the children that you have brought into the world and will bring into the world.