Articles
Taking Time to Teach Our Children about God
Reading: Deuteronomy 5-7
“And these word that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7
As a dad or a mom, there is nothing more important that we can do than to teach our children to love God. Moses declared, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one,” and then commanded that we should love the LORD with all our heart, soul, and might (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). Then he says these words should be in our heart and that we should impress these words on the hearts of our children. For us to teach our childen there are two important elements that must be in place for this to occur.
First, there is a time element that is necessary. If we are to teach these words while we sit at our house, it is necessary that we be sitting together with our kids at home. If we are to teach these words while we walk by the way (or drive in the car), then we must be with them in the car (or, better still, going for a walk). So, we must make time to be with our kids.
Second, the text states that we must “talk” of these words. This demands that communication take place. Are we creating an environement for communication when we are with our kids? It’s not enough to merely be in the same room or the same vehicle with our children. We must engage them in real conversation if we are to do this.
Be very intentional about this. Don’t just take your child to practice today. Talk with him or her about what’s going on in their life. And then don’t rush from practice to the next thing. Give yourself permission to take a time out and go get some ice cream after practice. They’ll love this, and not just because you’ve bought them something sweet, but because it is quality time spent with mom and dad.
Father God, we’re so worried and troubled about our hectic schedules. It’s easy for us to forget about the most important things while we rush from this appointment to the next one. Help us to slow down and think about the precious moments we have to connect with our kids. Give us an opportunity today to share with our children something about you.
