'Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again. Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. Write them on the door-posts of your house and on your gates.'
Deuteronomy 6.3, 4-9
New Living Translation
We want to talk about an area that is of supreme importance for the health of families and the future well-being of our nation.
The Christian faith needs to permeate our family life thoroughly. Children don't live in a vacuum, they will be influenced for good or ill, so we need to make sure it is for good. We need not just to pray for our children, but to work hard that they and we learn to relate our faith to every aspect of life. Too many Christian homes don't operate consistently as Christian - church, etc., is grafted onto a life or lifestyle that is not permeated by Christian thinking and practice. This is not surprising as we live in a secular and increasingly pagan culture, so every effort needs to be made by Christian parents to think through their beliefs and put them into healthy practice at home.
This was precisely the issue facing the people of God of old - they were about to live in a pagan land and they and their children would be swamped by the values of their new God-given homeland unless they listened to God's advice. We, like them, need to take it to heart! It is summed up in the brilliant passage above.
Note first the promise of God - things will go well if there is serious obedience to God's commands.
Loving
(1) Parents need to be seen to love the Lord with all their hearts and be committed wholeheartedly to the commands of the One who loves us, has redeemed us, knows what is best for us, and always has our interests at heart. Children cannot be 'sent' to church and be encouraged to take the Christian faith more seriously than their parents do. That is hypocrisy and doesn't impress children!
Teaching
(2) Parents need to take every opportunity to teach God's ways and standards - 'repeat them . . .' - we so easily forget! Not only are they to be 'repeated' but they are to be talked about - that is, they are to be explained and seen to be important to the whole family. They are to be talked about when 'at home or on a journey', 'when you are lying down or getting up again'. That is, they are to permeate and affect every part of our lives - on 'home' time, on 'holiday' time, on 'work' time, on 'relaxation' time. Jesus is to be the Lord of every area of our lives - not just fitted into spiritual bits or when it is convenient - 'if he is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all!'
Living
(3) Parents and children are to learn to allow the Word of God and the ways of God to affect what they do (tie them to your hands); how they think (we need to learn to think Christianly and biblically about problems and issues) - 'wear them on your foreheads', on door-posts and gates, God's Word written is to saturate our lives - it is to affect our going out and our coming in, that is every area of our lives. Our faith and understanding that God's way is best must affect the whole of our lives.
All this will make a radical difference to our families, the strength of our children. We need to teach them joyfully as opportunities arise in life about:
(i) The goodness of God as Creator - to appreciate beauty, order and purpose in God's world.
(ii) The graciousness of God as Saviour - that he loves, forgives and cares for those who turn to him. That he calls those who know the joy of being in his family to show the family likeness in forgiveness and love to others.
(iii) The generosity of God as companion and friend - who promises to be with us by his Spirit and help us through life, gifting and strengthening us for what he wants us to do. We need to enjoy walking with him and let our children see that.
None of this implies an unreal, hothouse or 'heavy' religiosity in our families, but a natural, joyful, wholehearted commitment to God and his ways. Our children deserve nothing less, and when we fail, God will be there to help us start again.
May we take his advice to heart! Let us prayerfully support one another in this great endeavour.
Wallace Benn
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