We are introduced to  the scene in which a small child has either climbed up himself or has been placed on top of the wall so he can see what is on the other side. A wind is blowing and the child nearly loses his balance. Fearfully, the child instinctively, trustingly, plaintively, cries out, “Daddy!”

Hearing the fear in his child’s voice and seeing the danger, the father says “Jump and I’ll catch you.”  In most cases, the child will confidently jump into the father’s outstretched arms. The child knows and trusts his father and jumps without fear.

The child has no fear that the father will stumble and fall and drop him or step back and let him fall hard to the ground. There is no wondering if the father is strong enough to catch him or if he will suffer a heart attack at just that moment and drop him. No, the child knows that his loving father will catch and hug him to himself and probably give him a kiss. There may also be words of endearment or a compliment about the child’s bravery. Or if the child had defiantly climbed up on the wall against the father’s orders, there even may be a scolding for the disobedience, but the father WILL catch him and still love him. The child trusts that it will be so. He never even stops to think that there could be any reason whatever that his father will allow him to fall.

This is a picture of the way each and every Christian should be to our Loving Heavenly Father, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
But what if the father is one who has let the child down? Most parents try to keep their promises to their children and the children grow up to trust and have complete confidence in the parent. But what if the parent is always breaking promises? It does not matter whether the promises are of rewards which then are not given when earned or if the promises are, “Johnny, the next time you do that, I’m going to have to spank you,” and no spanking comes when Johnny defies the parental rule. The result is the same. The child learns that the parent makes promises that he does not keep. Trust and confidence are lost, sometimes beyond repair. It is Satan's job to cause us to fear that we will be allowed to fall and to look to other resources than our Loving Heavenly Father.

Now when a child grows up with loving and honest parents who keep their promises, the child is also much more likely to believe other people and most importantly, the Bible and God,

What a tragedy. Others see Him as a stern old man with a long white beard who is sitting on a throne just waiting for His child to "mess up" co He can hit the child and punish him.

This message has two points. One, as our responsibility, as parents,  to the children we conceive or bring into the world. I said that this way because today, the courts have said that if a baby is still not visible, it is OK to murder it as long as the murder is done inside the mother’s womb. But murdering the unborn does not relieve the natural parents of that unborn child of their responsibility to raise that child to the glory and honor of our loving and caring Heavenly Father just because its tiny body is surgically or chemically removed from its mother and killed before it is old enough or large enough to defend itself in any way or even to cry out in pain or complain to anyone who might listen. 

After the baby is born, as parents, we must realize that even very small children pick up on attitudes of their parents at a very early age. There is some scientific evidence that even within the womb a baby may pick up attitudes of insecurity or hostility which will last all the way to old age. They can sense displeasure or pleasure and whether the parent is happy of frustrated. They also sense love or the lack of love. As a father and grandfather with children of my own young enough to be the children of my oldest grandchildren, there is no reward so great as seeing your children grow into successful adults and responsible parents themselves because you taught them right. 

Nor is there any disappointment so great as seeing yourself as having failed to be the parent you know you should have been with the result that your children have problems that could have been prevented if you had been the loving, caring parent you should have been. I can see both sides of this picture because with some of my children, I did fail to be everything I wanted to be to help them grow up. It does not matter whether the other parent did what could be done to prevent my parenting or not. Knowing I was not there in circumstances when needed is painful whatever the reason or excuse and whether good or bad.

So, the first part of this messaage is that if you are responsible for the conception of a child, you will answer before Almighty God if you fail to do