Before we get to today’s article, I just want to mention that am writing from the perspective of a man that has experienced many of the challenges of which I write…. and those spiritual battles continue daily. The articles are implications of what it means to obey the commandment to raise your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. They require some reflection and are particularly for Christians who, as Peter would say, are diligently seeking to confirm their calling and are making every effort to supplement their faith. Said more succinctly, serious Christians. If you know other believers who desire to walk more faithfully with the Lord, please forward an article to them and tell them to sign up for future articles. Thanks so much!
My wife and I didn’t become Christians until we were 36 years old. As new Christians, we knew very little about the Bible, but soon learned about the great opportunity to do family devotions. What are family devotions? Family devotions is a time that your family sets aside (anything from 10 minutes to 60 minutes) to read from Bible or another Bible based book, sing, and pray. You can do it every day of the week, several days of the week, or just Sundays. The important thing is that your family is habitually gathering to hear God’s word and worship Him in the process.
Our family learned about the beauty and benefit of family devotion time soon after becoming new Christians. My son was a sometimes inattentive 11 year old and my daughter was a very chatty 6 year old. I will confess here that there were some evenings that just trying to get everyone together for our 7:00PM start time was tough and often resulted in less than, shall we say, a smooth start. But that was OK. God honored our times that we took week after week and year after year despite the weaknesses of the leaders. After attending several God honoring churches through the years that followed, they now look back and say that our family devotion times were probably the most formative times in their Christian lives.
How to do family devotions: https://www.cherishephesians64.com/family-devotions/
Why do family devotions?
- For all the same reasons as the reasons to obey Ephesians 6:4. Family devotions are part of raising your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
- Because God is worthy to be worshipped throughout the day in various ways! Family devotions is just one of those ways and is done by the family reading His word, singing, and praying together.
- Because you need to take advantage of every opportunity to counter what your children see and hear in today’s anti-Christian culture.
- Because it gives you an opportunity to model to your children the incredible importance of a life that gives time to learning more about God’s word. Simply put, if it is not important enough for you to spend time with God through Bible reading, you cannot expect your children to place a value on their own time with God. We are not Sunday morning only Christians.
- Because it brings the family together, encouraging and building the beauty of the God designed family unit.
No, I can’t do it because….
I’m not going to address the excuse that you don’t have the time. I believe we all get done each day what we deem to be most important to us and this needs to be one of those top priority things! Will you have to look at your schedule and think about what things are most important to God? Yes, I am sure that you will and some of those things that you love and have no eternal value may have to go. Ouch! Here are a couple of other objections that may come to your mind:
“I’m uncomfortable.”
Maybe you are uncomfortable or feel inadequate. My answer to you is, “get over it!” It doesn’t matter that you haven’t done it before or that the family you grew up in did not do family devotions. Start a legacy that your children will one day carry into their families (we are talking about your grandchildren!). If you don’t know much about the Bible or you are a new Christian, begin with a resource that can guide you (see resources). Listen to Joshua 24:15. “But for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
“I have young children that can’t understand.”
The younger they are, the more that this modeling of spending time as a family with God will be woven into their view of the Christian life. This is also a training opportunity to train children to sit for a while (like they will in other settings like church) while listening to others. Obviously, you should be considering the level of teaching and singing to their age level, but those lasting impressions will still be made.
Here is the bottom line: God has sent a personal missionary to your home to teach all that Jesus has commanded (Matthew 28:19) from the Bible and you are that missionary!!
By the way, your kids may be grown and out of the house, but if you know a young Christian family with children, please share this article!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Last modified: October 3, 2022
