God is greatly interested in the way we teach our children. Are you? Have you ever thought about how important that is? President Ronald Reagan put the idea into words:
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
The same is true for the gospel. If parents fail, the truth of the gospel could be lost in one generation. Can you imagine the heartache and the hopelessness of being a grandparent and worrying that your grandchildren will die in their sins—that you will never see them in Heaven?
Throughout the story of the founding of Israel, God speaks about how to raise children. He expects a great deal from parents. Parenthood is so much more than providing food and shelter. You must teach your kids EVERYTHING. Schools and schoolteachers are a bonus. The church is an added blessing. But the parents bear the duty. That duty is serious enough that God often tells parents exactly how to teach their children, even what to say:
Ex. 12:26— “When your children ask you about the Passover, you are to say…”
Ex. 13:8— “Explain to your son…”
Ex. 13:14— “When your son asks you what this means, say to him…”
Deut. 4:9— “Make these things known to your sons and grandsons…”
Deut. 6:20— “When your children ask you…, then you shall say….”
Joshua 4:6— “When your children ask you later, ‘What do these stones mean?,’ then you shall say to them…”
Joshua 4:21— “When the children ask their fathers…, they shall teach them, saying…”
More than once, my wife and I have heard our children protest that we were giving them “a Bible lesson” or “Sunday school answers.” But that complaint indicates a misunderstanding. It is not as though we listen to a conversation and search our brains for “Bible answers.” It is much more organic: when we hear kids’ problems, we process them through our own minds. The answers we come up with are the things we naturally think of. And having studied the Bible for thirty years, Bible passages SHOULD come to mind when we consider problems—whether our own or someone else’s. Honestly, we would be pretty sorry students of the Bible if it did not cross our minds when someone we love comes to us with a struggle.
The Bible endorses this view. We should know the word, and as parents, we should incorporate the word into our family’s conversations ALL THE TIME. Consider Deuteronomy 11:19—
“You shall teach these things to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
Or to paraphrase: You must teach the word to your kids, talking about it when you sit at home, when you drive the car, when you go to bed at night, and when you wake up in the morning. It should be a natural part of your day and of all your conversations.
Pray with me. Dear God, make us great parents, whether we have kids now or will have them in the future. Help us love your word and teach it to our children. May your word be the first thing that comes to mind when we face obstacles. May we teach it to the next generation. Give them a great hunger to know you and to love your word. Make us the best teachers of the Bible that we can be.
ΑΩ
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