Text: 1 Kings 1:5 NKJV

Further Reading: 1 Kings 1:5-9

Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

1 Kings 1:5 NKJV

MESSAGE

As wonderfully as David performed as King, his greatest grief came from his children. The enemy inflicted the greatest pain upon David through his children. Let me warn preachers and ministers going out there to win souls and help other lives find God not neglect their own children and family.

You must win your home first, and as one preacher of old puts it, “You don’t have a business trying to win the World if you can’t win your home”. Don’t win the people in the world for God and lose your own family to the Devil. It is a common trend to see ministers’ children living a life of shame and reproach both to God and their parents.

Fathers must have time to train their children. David suffered the full wrath of not taking the pain to labor over his children. In 2 Samuel 12, his wicked son Amnon abused his sister Tamar and then not quite long after that, Absalom killed Amnon. The same Absalamon made himself king and chased his father away from the throne.

In our text and reading of the day, the Bible spoke about Adonijah who also made himself king while his father was yet alive. But here is the remark, (And his father had not rebuked him at any time by saying, “Why have you done so?” He was also very good-looking. His mother had borne him after Absalom.)
I Kings 1:6 NKJV

This means that not once was Adonijah corrected by his father. Any time you leave a child to do whatever he wants without correction be ready to face the full wrath of the consequences of such action. The Bible says that you should beat a child with a rod of correction, he won’t die, and you will only be delivering his soul from hell (Proverbs 23:13-14).

Fathers, if you love your children, you won’t fail to correct them. Discipline is proof of love says Proverbs 13:24. It is the child you don’t discipline that will bring grief to you as a father and shame to his mother.

Fathers who have failed in their role must cry to God today for mercy and take all their children to cavalry for recovery. May God bring them back home.

REFLECTION

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

Proverbs 22:15 NKJV

Children will want to prove difficult but the father is to be there to bend them into the right mode.

PRAYER

Father, please make our fathers watchmen over their homes.