Job 1:5 NKJV says, “So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly.”
Job obviously loved his children but he went about things the wrong way when it came to protecting them. He was afraid that they may have opened the door for God’s wrath by bad behavior, so he consistently offered sacrifices on their behalf. The problem was that they were grown and responsible for their own actions. What he should have done was train them to reverence God when they were young. They should have learned to offer their own sacrifices. Then he could cast the care of them over on the Lord, knowing he had done what he could for them, and their choices and the consequences of those choices were on them. He did not need to live in constant fear. Too few parents make the necessary investment in the spiritual life of their children when they are young. Then when those chidren become adults, they often feel obligated to bail them out of everything. So the children never feel responsible for their own actions. The results can be tragic. Parents need to train children spiritually beginning with the baby stage - first at home. Then they need to have that training reinforced at church and school. That means getting them involved in as many church activities as possible and placing them in a Christian school or home school.
Whether we have chidren or not, let us apply the principle of investing up front to all areas of our lives. Let us not be slack in preparing ourselves for challenges. We can do so by continually investing diligently in our spiritual lives.