3rd December 2024
Alex Buabeng-Korsah
Theme: DON'T RAISE SONS OF BELIAL
THEME SCRIPTURE: "Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord." 1 Samuel 2:12 KJV
PREPARATORY QUESTIONS
- Who are the sons of Belial?
- How are they raised?
Eli the priest had two sons. Though these two had grown in the house of God, yet they did not know God. As a result, they toyed with the things of God, and Eli did nothing strictly. The things of God are sacred and need to be treated as such, but Hophni and Phinehas did otherwise.
Interestingly, God called Hophni and Phinehas "the sons of Belial" (without profit, worthless). The reason was that they were raised without the knowledge of who God is. No wonder they disdained the sacred things of God.
Sons of Belial are children who know everything else apart from God. They have been well-schooled, well-fed, and well-mannered but have no knowledge of their own hearts. They are gifted but not useful to God. As the two sons of Eli disdained the things of God, so also the sons of Belial talk anyhow about Christ and the things of God.
It is quite disheartening the way the next generation is being raised. It seems we are raising a generation that does not know God—a video game generation who will be unprofitable to their Maker. Today, parents are too busy such that their children's spiritual well-being has become secondary. We buy phones for our children, but we never buy Bibles for them. We want them to know science, mathematics, and engineering yet we care less about their knowledge of God. We bring them to church on Sundays for a mere 2 hours and expect the church to be responsible for their spiritual development. There are no more devotions in the homes.
D.L . Moody said, "If a person starts to steal bolts and nuts from the railway line and you educate him, he will come back and steal the whole railway line."Moody was signifying that no matter how we educate people in the head if the heart of that person is corrupt, he will be unprofitable to his nation, humanity, and God.
Similarly, if we educate the heads of our children without educating their hearts, they will grow up to be grievous to their parents. In our days, we have seen marriages survive just a week, and some, a few days. In our days we have witnessed corruption of the worst kind in our nations and fraud of an unprecedented scale. Men and women are unwilling to bend towards the will of God. Fine gentlemen and beautiful ladies, but their hearts are desperately wicked. It all began in the home where they were raised. They did not know God even though they were attending church.
This is a call to parents to rise up in their duty, to raise children after God's heart. A call to all parents to command their children and their household after them, to keep the way of the Lord, to know justice and judgment, and to follow after righteousness (Genesis 18:19).
Beloved, remember this—Eli was blamed for the foolish heart of his children. Eli was rebuked by God, and his house was punished because his sons failed to honor God (1 Samuel 2:30-31). May we avoid the rebuke of God but rather be honored, because we and our household know God, and are profitable unto Him.
Remain blessed.
FURTHER READING: 1 Samuel 2:12-18
Call to Salvation: Today is your day if you have not received salvation by turning over your life to Jesus Christ. Click here to do so.
QUESTION TO HELP YOU MEDITATE ON THE WORD
- How well do you know God, and how willing are you to command your children to follow your steps?
PRAYER
Eternal Father, if I will be able to raise children after your heart, it starts with me. I must first be a man after God's heart, broken and subjected to your Lordship. I receive grace to walk in the light of your word and under the command of your Lordship. In Jesus' precious name. Glory to God!
ONE-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN
Job 3, Job 4, Jonah 4, Hebrews 10.
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