Sons are a heritage from the Lord,children a reward from him.
It's sad to think how our attitude towards children has changed. This was brought to mind for me when I saw the dismay some people had towards the recent birth of octuplets. Instead of celebrating the arrival of new babies, many people were horrified by the burden it placed on the parents and society, and talked about the irresponsibility of the parents (or fertility doctors) in having so many children.
Contrary to popular belief, we are not threatened with overpopulation, in fact the world will reach its maximum population this century and start declining from that point on. Some countries, such as Russia, are experiencing near catastrophic population decline and will encounter serious social problems as a result of the diminished number of young people in their society. Far from loving children and receiving them as rewards from God, we are now increasingly begrudging them, and only willing to accept the challenge of having children after we've got home, career, hobbies and everything else under control, by which time it may be too late. And woe betide the baby if it comes "too soon," when it's "not yet convenient" - we insist on our right to abort inconvenient babies, and some are even promoting infanticide if the child doesn't turn out as expected.
Lord have mercy on us and teach us again to prize our children even as you do.
