April 22 Bible Verse for the Week

Deuteronomy 6:6-9
"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thy eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 is one of my favorite Scripture passages when it comes to understanding how Christian families should raise their children. The foundation of any Christian home needs to be Christ and His Word, the Bible. Yet in today's society, I find that many, if not most, Christian families do not make the time to read God's Word together as a family. They neglect the task of teaching their children Bible verses and Scriptural principles and leave it to the Sunday-School teacher, the Preacher, or the Church when it is the responsibility of the Christian parent(s). The goal of the Christian family is to raise children who desire to know the Lord, to grow in their relationship with Him, to serve Him, and one day create a Christian family of their own for Him.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 reminds us Christian parents to talk to our children about God and His Word so they may understand who God is and how much He loves and cares for them. We should not simply let the Church teach and train our children in Biblical principles but rather we must be the first ones who model and teach God's love. Our children should be able to look at us and say, "I see Jesus in Daddy and Mommy." They should see that God is real in us and because of our testimony (our model/behavior/walk), our children will be drawn toward Christ. Too many Christian families today do not have parent(s) who model Christ's love and behavior, thus the children are choosing to reject Christ because He is not real in Daddy and Mommy.

My heart aches for today's Christian families for there seems to be little or no difference between them and the world's families. The family is one of the three ordained institutions by God and yet so many treat it flippantly and deny their God-given responsibilities and roles. We must understand that Satan is a real adversary to the Christian and he desires to destroy Christian families. May we remember Deuteronomy 6:6-9 and may we purpose to hide God's Word in our hearts, to teach our children the Bible and encourage them to memorize it, and may we Christian parents live out our faith in front of the children so they decided to choose Christ and live for Him.