Teach them to your children,
 talking about them when you sit at home
 and when you walk along the road,
 when you lie down
 and when you get up.

Deuteronomy 11:19

 

Each new generation learns about God from the one before. Like a continual unbroken chain, each link connects the next to the family of faith. You and I believe today because someone loved us enough to teach us.

It is both our joy and our job to teach our children about God.

I love the words of Deuteronomy 11:19. Family was important to our Jewish forefathers, just as family is certainly a priority to followers of Christ today. I often tell the ladies on my ministry leadership team, “Your primary focus for mission and ministry is your family,” and I believe this with all my heart. More than any other people on this planet, my children are the ones I desire to see in heaven. They are ones I long to talk with about Scripture. The ones I hope will be wholeheartedly devoted to living for Jesus always and in all ways. It is my constant prayer that they love God and His Word, and embrace an active faith.

It is both our joy and our job to teach our children about God. Click To Tweet

But it’s not enough for me to pray. It’s not enough for me to tell. I have to teach—and life is our classroom.

Moses outlined an As You Go method for teaching our children. It’s not a ten-minutes-a-day-and-you’re-on-your-way model. It’s a life model. It’s a living out loud model.

Moses challenges us to talk about the Word and teach about God:

• when you sit at home – as we eat dinner, fold the laundry, load the dishwasher.
• when you walk along the road – as we ride around in the mini van or go on a bike ride.
• when you lie down – as we pray at bedtime and tuck them in at night, or as we settle them for a nap.
• when you get up – as we kick off each new day, eat breakfast and begin the school schedule.

My one-word take-away from the Moses method? Intentional. Are you and I deliberately looking for opportunities to point our children to God?

Christianity has continued for 2000 years. Each generation has been faithful teach and tell the next. We must not allow it to stop on our watch!

But here’s the crux of it:  you can’t teach when you don’t possess yourself. If you want your kids to love God wholeheartedly, pray that you would love God wholeheartedly. If you want your child to be a student of God’s Word, immerse yourself in it. If you want your children to live an active faith, model it to them and talk to them about it as you go.

Here’s to on-the-job teaching and training! Thanks, Moses!