Give children what God has to offer and they will have The Best for life.
“You shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up.” – Deuteronomy 6:7
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6.
Proverbs 22:6 is one verse that we as parents have taken so seriously that we have set out to train but have kept God out of all of it. Choose the best school, hire the best tutors, select the best coach, give all priority to school examinations and the list is endless. We give our best to train our children in the way they should go, but are they? Lets take a few minutes and calculate how much time we reserve to train our children in the Word of God.
Giving our children the best of what the world has to offer is not enough; give them the best what God has to offer and they will have the best for life. We have to build up a generation to be fruitful enough to bless nations. We are to train our children in the ways of the Lord, in the Word of God.
Teaching God’s word to children can be fun. Make Jesus a part of their life and not a ritual. Make Bible reading exciting for them, not a boring task.
Wean the Word
Let the Word of God influence our children. We can never have too much of God, can we? Similarly, we can never give an over dose of God’s word to our children, the more the better. The more they are exposed to the things of God the easier it gets for them to believe and walk in faith. God’s word impacts children when we familiarize them with it. A child is never too young for the word of God. When you read God’s Word to infants, the Holy Spirit speaks to their spirit. As they grow, talk to them in short stories the goodness of God, His power, His Love.
Walk the Word
Let our actions speak aloud to our children. Our relationship with one another, the way we speak to one another, the way we treat one another has to reflect Jesus. In Deuteronomy 6:7, God not only tells us to teach our children but also goes a step further to tell us HOW to do it. Talk to them about God while cooking, while washing, while walking, while playing, at the super market. Take every opportunity to speak the love of Christ through the things that you see around you. Let them know through you God’s faithfulness in your life it will challenge them and strengthen their faith.
Write the Word
Let our children get used to seeing the Word before their eyes. In Deuteronomy 6: 8&9, God is telling us to tie the Word on our hands, write on the door frames and gates, so that not only we are reminded of His promises every time but also children see it often and begin to learn. As they learn, it gets hidden in their hearts and in due time it brings forth fruit. Take effort to help your child memorize the Word of God. Reward them for learning and the best way to motivate them is to start memorizing verse along with them. Remember it is a step to imprint God’s word upon their heart.
Jesus purely said, “Let the little children come to me…” (Matthew 19:4) What is our part? We only need to take them to Jesus. Let us willfully give time to the most important thing in our lives – Take our children into the presence of the Lord daily.
God is for our children; it is for us to TAKE THEM to Him.