Daily Devotional for Friday, June 16

Teach Children Diligently

“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up,” Deuteronomy 6:7.

God knows that you need to teach.  In the 1960’s, National Training Laboratories suggested that the most effective way to retain learning was to teach others.  It is so important for us to teach our own children and other children that God has placed within our sphere of influence.  They may or may not retain the things you teach them, but you are certain to benefit from teaching it to them.  But what are we teaching them?  That God wants you to love him with everything you have.  This is living all in for Jesus!

What does it mean to live all in for Jesus? It looks like setting aside intentional time to prepare life lessons from God’s word for your children.  These teachings should be ongoing from the time they first come into your sphere of influence until they are taken out of your sphere of influence.  The lessons should change to meet their development and growth.  When the children are not as developed, things must be simple, and more and more detail and complexity can be added as they mature. Do not consider anything to be outside the realm of God’s word.  They and you must learn what God wants in relationships, money, worship, government, social concerns, and the list goes on and on.  It is a daily task and a lifetime commitment.  Some days you will not be popular for it but when they are old, they will not depart from these things (Proverbs 22:6).  The children in your life will come to think of you as a teacher because you are always talking about God’s commandments.  “Dad, can we go anywhere without you talking about Jesus or that Bible?”  When that question in some form surfaces, you will have succeeded.

THOUGHT: Do you need to teach a child so you can continue to learn to love God completely?

David Thompson