These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (NIV) Deuteronomy 6:6-7
For 11 years I helped my sister and my parents raise my sister’s 6 children. Our family devotions were my responsibility. There have been many times I’ve wondered if the time spent trying to help the kids understand God’s Word and apply it to their lives would have any affect on them or not.
It has been exciting to watch the kids as they’ve grown into adulthood, take ownership of their own faith. Their relationships with God determine how they live their lives. I can say that one of my greatest joys is knowing that God has taken His Word and imprinted it on the kids’ hearts and minds.
The Bible tells us that we are to “impress” God’s Word on our children. . . we are to teach them diligently, talk of it constantly. . . we are to talk of God’s Word with our children when we’re in the car, when we’re working in the yard, when we’re at soccer or baseball games, before school, after school, at meal times, after church, before problems with peers arise, after problems with peers arise, when we’re watching TV, when we play, when we work. . . we are to talk of God’s Word with our children constantly! And why do we do that? It is the consistency of having the Word impressed upon their hearts that enables them to recall it in years to come. . . And as a result, they will live out God’s Word when we are not around.
We praise God for how He is working in my 6 nieces and nephews lives! Our family devotions did make a difference! How are your family devotions? How are you impressing God’s Word on your children’s hearts? When do you speak of the Bible with your children? When do you talk with your kids about your own devotional times with God? If you don’t do it, who will? It’s never too late to start!
