Serious Business

A few weeks ago, my sister asked Jim and I to "stand up" for her children in church this coming Sunday since they are going to have them dedicated. Of course, we are happy and honored to do it. I started to think back to when we had Connor dedicated about 9 months after he was born. At the time of Connor's dedication, Jim and I were very different people than we were when we had Payton. Regardless, today my sister kind of, in a roundabout way, made a blank comment about what it means to have her kids dedicated. It was a very general statement about raising your kids with God in their life. I agreed....however, it got me to thinking about the true commitment they (and we) are making when we stand before God and make promises. From my perspective, this is serious business and not something to be taken lightly. Just as marriage is a vow, a covenant, with God....I view (and I would assume that God views) the baby, or child, dedication to be of equal importance.

So, I did a little reading that was for my benefit and hopefully for my sisters as well. What I found is as follows:

The dedication of children is a voluntary act in which believing parents publicly present their child and themselves to the Lord as an outward expression of their gratitude to Him for the child and as a formal appeal to God for His assistance in the rearing of the child. It is not to be confused with infant baptism, is not to be viewed as an ordinance of the church, and does not impart salvation.

Because the child is a gift from God, the parents promise to bring up the child entrusted to them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord [Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21] In dedicating their child in the presence of fellow believers, parents are publicly dedicating themselves to the faithful fulfillment of their parental responsibilities [Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Proverbs 22:6] and are acknowledging their need of the prayerful support and encouragement of those fellow believer [Ephesians 6:18; Hebrews 10:24-25].

The act of child dedication becomes meaningful only as the parents explain to the child the meaning of this act and consistently carry out the promises made before God and the brethren at the time of dedication. The dedication is more than a service. It's a commitment of parents to honor the will and the Word of God. As a part of this dedication, you as parents are asked to:
1. Publicly affirm your personal faith in Christ, and renew your dedication to Him and His Word.
2. Pray daily for God's direction in your lives and in the lives of your children.
3. Faithfully participate in Sunday Worship with your children.
4. Teach your children the truths of God's Word in your home.
5. Anticipate and seek to lead your children to a personal faith in Christ as soon as they are ready.
6. Recognize that your children belong to God and have been born to experience His love and to serve Him.

It is obvious that in order for a child to be dedicated, the dedicating Parents must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If only one parent is a true believer in Jesus Christ or only one parent is living for the Lord, the Parent-Child Dedication can still take place. However, only the believing parent, or the one living for the Lord, should dedicate the child(ren).