This is the final post in our series on giving up your life for Christ in anticipation of the July/August The Briefing. In our first post, Robert Doyle looked at the concept of giving up your life in the context of worship. Then Dave Andrews tackled the important question “What should I be doing with my time [as I give up my life]?” Last week, Philip Miles dealt with giving up one's life in missionary service and the problems with the theology of ‘the call’. This week, a lead ballooner with his/her tongue firmly in cheek explains how giving up one's life for the sake of one's kids is an integral part of giving up one's life for Christ:

I really do want the best for my kids; it would be inhuman, un-Australian, even ungodly, not to want that. After all, they are the future of this country—the future of this world. They deserve the best. That's my God-given role as a parent. Anything less than that is just plain unacceptable.

I want the best education for my kids. None of this run-of-the-mill public education stuff for my kids. No sir. I will make the sacrifices necessary to send them to a private school. Sure, it costs a bit more, and it takes a bit more of my time each day, but it certainly is worth it. They get a much better, more well-rounded, disciplined education. None of this namby-pamby, new-fangled stuff that gets passed off for education at the public schools these days. I want something that will give them a good head-start in the real world. Something that will give them the opportunity to make their mark in Australian society in a positive sense.

And speaking of opportunities, I want to give my kids every possible opportunity that they can have in life. After all, we don't yet really know how God has gifted them. We don't know what talents lie hidden just beneath the surface, just waiting to burst forth, given the right opportunity. I want to give them that opportunity.

And so, for my son, I will take him to cricket in the summer, and to soccer in the winter. I will take him to training during the week. And I will even pay to have a bit of private tuition on the side. Who knows; he may be good enough to play for Australia one day. And he is a fairly tall kid for his age. So I am thinking of taking him along to basketball next year. The Boomers are making a name for themselves at the moment, and there are real opportunities for advancement in that sport. I guess that I will have to fit that in on one night during the week. On Tuesday afternoons I take him to piano lessons. Sure, it's one more trip in the car each week (actually two, if you count picking him up again). But it is just one more opportunity that he needs to have. Who knows, God may have gifted him as a concert pianist. Then he could have all sorts of opportunities to witness for God to all sorts of famous people.

Read the full article online (966 words).

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