November 12, 2013

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;

incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

I will open my mouth in a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old,

things that we have heard and known,

that our fathers have told us.

 We will not hide them from their children,

but tell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,

and the wonders that he has done.

Psalm 78:1-4

This was part of my Bible reading for  today and it really reminded me of how important it is that we teach our children scripture every day while  they still live  at home with us. the context of this passage is that it is a psalm that is encouraging Israel not to forget the great things God has done for the nation of Israel. If you continue reading, the psalm continues with a recitation of God’s provision in taking Israel out of Egypt and how he provided for them in the desert.

I think it can still teach us today the importance of carrying on the tradition of teaching our children our faith while they live at home with us. In our family, this has meant Bible studies integrated into our homeschooling as well as reading the Bible at night. The kids were both in AWANA and then middle school and high school youth groups (although Wild Man is the one who really has gotten into youth group). But, we also try to make our lifestyle one of faith, a life where we are showing love to those around us, to our friends and to those less fortunate. We want to demonstrate a life of prayer, where it’s not weird to just stop and pray for something or someone.

There’s no guarantee that our kids are going to stick with Christianity, or at least our Evangelical version of it. We are now watching Rosie Girl start to spread her wings and debate lots of theological and social issues with friends as she tries to decide what she believes about God and Jesus. Wild Man is just a few years behind her and he’s also trying to sort out the whole “relationship with Jesus” thing. The Bible doesn’t come with a set of instructions on exactly what to do with each kind of kid. Sigh. All prayers and suggestions would be appreciated.