About Us Quarterly Magazine Meditation: Take this Child
Meditation: Take this Child Print E-mail
Saturday, 16 January 2010 12:21
By. Rev. H.A. Bergsma

By tradition and ruling, the Hebrews took good care of children. Even orphans were well looked after (see Exodus 22:22). This is how God wanted it. In contrast, the world has not taken good care of children. Millions of needy children around this world prove it, especially those in third world countries. How many are left to wander about without love, without food, and without shelter? Anyone who has traveled in any third world country can testify to it. But even in our western world, there are countless children who lack the basic necessities, even love and care. How wonderful then, to read in the Bible about God’s provisions for children.

When Moses was still a child, he benefited greatly from God’s provisions. In an unusual manner, his own parents became his foster parents and he their foster child. They could only look after him for a little while. They received instructions from a higher authority to “take this child … and nurse it” (Exodus 2:9). They could provide their (foster) child with his basic necessities: nourishment, love, shelter and protection. No doubt, when possible, they also inculcated God’s Word and God’s ways in him as well, as young as he was. Pharaoh’s daughter, who found him as a baby among the reeds by the river’s bank, took ownership of him. She too, in a certain sense, became a foster parent. She too became instrumental in providing for his needs. She gave the initial order to “take this child … and nurse it.” After the first (foster) parents had done what they could, she took over, and Moses received an education that would prove invaluable for the work that he would be called to do. Moses was one of the first foster children of the Bible, and by God’s provision and human instrumentality, Moses became a great man and a great leader. The Bible honors Moses in Hebrews 3:5 by informing us that “Moses verily was faithful in all his house …” The Bible has made Moses the “poster-child” of foster children.

If the will of Pharaoh had been executed, Moses would not have lived past the three months. But because of God’s provisions, Moses’ life was spared. His life would become the type of which Jesus Christ would become the great example: a Saviour and Prince and Leader of His people.

Because it has forsaken God, the world has many children who lack the basic necessities of life. If it would be left up to the world and its many ungodly rulers, the life of many children would be cut short. But God’s provisions are still the same as in Moses’ days. God is still pleased to use people to form foster-child agencies. Christians have the privilege of being in the forefront of such foster-child agencies. May Christians take to heart the words: “Take this child … and nurse it.”

Rev. Bergsma is pastor of the Free Reformed Church in London, Ontario.
 
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