Teach your children well

"A Family Prayer" after the painting
by George Agnew Reid (1860-1947).

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 10-12; Psalm 56

TO CHEW ON: "You shall teach them (these words of mine) to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." Deuteronomy 11:19


My parents must have taken this verse to heart, for early in our family life Daddy instituted something we called schluss (a German word that means "conclusion"). It was a time of family devotions when he gathered everyone around to read a story from the Egermeier Bible Story Book. Then we all got on our knees beside our chairs and prayed oldest to youngest, starting with Dad. No matter that we resisted this, as we did when we got older by claiming we hadn't heard him call, or had homework, or were too tired, or even pretending to be asleep. The family altar my parents set up laid a firm foundation for me and my siblings in the Bible and the things of God.

Here Moses suggests that teaching the things of God to our kids should intrude even more into daily life than a once-a-day time of Bible reading and prayer.

He tells parents to teach the things of God using various sense portals. They can write God's words on the walls (sight). They can bind them on their hands (touch). They can speak them (sound). Additionally this teaching can happen anywhere, everywhere: when they sit in their houses and when they go for walks, the last thing at night and the first thing in the morning.

For us to initiate that level of God-awareness and inclusion in our children implies a similar level of God-awareness and inclusion in our own lives.

In Moses' time God-awareness meant learning, meditating, memorizing and discussing God's character and essence as demonstrated in the laws God gave Moses. It also involved storytelling, reminding each other of the ways He had come through for them in signs, wonders and miracles.

We have a more complete picture of God than the Israelites did. For in addition to what the they had, we have the personal reaction to those laws in the Psalms, the heart of a loving Father grieving over His wayward kids demonstrated in the prophets, the fleshing out of God the Son in the Gospels, what it looks like for us to be subjects of the Kingdom He ushered in, in the Epistles, and our own stories.

And so I ask myself, do I acknowledge God's presence in my life to the extent of bringing Him into the decor of my home? Do thoughts of Him preoccupy me often, like first thing in the morning and as I go through my day sitting, working, walking? Does He tuck me in at night? Do I recognize the incidents of God showing Himself present and strong in the circumstances of my life? In order for me to be able to introduce Him as such an ever-present God to my kids and grandkids, I need to first practice His presence in this way myself.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to be intentional about including You in my day. Then help me to pass on my God-awareness to the next generation whenever I have the opportunity. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 56


The Bible Project VIDEO: AHAVAH: Love (Shema word study series)

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Discerning truth and error

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 JOHN 1-13

TO CHEW ON: “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. he who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.” 2 John 9


This short book/letter of only 13 verses is nevertheless deep and thought provoking. Its key words are “love” (four occurrences) and “truth” (five occurrences). Its main themes are truth and error—concepts we’d expect to see addressed by the philosophical Apostle John. With efficiency John lays out the territory of each.

What is truth and how does it relate to the believer? *

• It unites them in fellowship - 2 John 1

• It lives in them forever - 2 John 2.

• They remind each other of the truth they believe and affirm it in their greeting of each other - 2 John 3.

• It manifests itself in their obedience to God - 2 John 4-6.  

What is error?

• Its advocates are deceitful - 2 John 7.

• They deny Christ’s incarnation - 2 John 7.

• They ignore the teachings of Jesus and disobey Him - 2 John 9.

• They are to be guarded against, even shunned (John tells his readers to not even invite them into their homes) - 2 John 8, 11.

In our time when a smorgasbord of Bible teaching is available through books and online, maybe we should keep some of John’s points in mind as we evaluate who speaks truth and whose teachings come with shades of deceit and error. Some questions we might ask as we evaluate what we read and hear:

• Does this teacher acknowledge the deity of Jesus?

• Does he/she teach what Jesus taught, or are they selective, leaving out controversial bits?

• Is their teaching clear or filled with questions and an unwillingness to state clearly what they believe (so that what they really believe remains fuzzy; we can’t pin them down)?

• What does their lifestyle say about their beliefs?

Such spiritual perception implies a familiarity with the Bible and Jesus' teachings on our part in the first place, so we can tell what’s off. Let’s be studious and biblically literate so we can be discriminating in choosing what teachers to put ourselves under.

PRAYER: Dear Father, please fill me with Your Spirit of wisdom so I will recognize truth and error. Amen.

* These points are taken from the Study Notes on 2 John from the NKJV Thompson Chain Bible, p. 2099.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Letters old and new

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 15:22-35

TO CHEW ON: “So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter.
When they read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement.” Acts 15:30,31

In these days of instant messaging across the world, it’s interesting to try to put ourselves in the place of these early Gentile Christians. Their missionaries had gone to Jerusalem to get a verdict from church leaders (the Apostles) on how they were to conduct themselves in this new life. Now Paul, Barnabas, and a delegation had returned with the Apostles' decision in a letter. What would the letter say?

Letters played an important role in Bible times.

Sometimes letters sealed a fate.

• Uriah carried his own death sentence letter from David to Joab at the battlefront - 2 Samuel 11:14.
• Jezebel (King Ahab’s wife) sent letters to Israel’s leaders with a plot to kill Naboth so Ahab could take his garden - 1 Kings 21:8.

Kings sent threatening letters to their rivals and enemies.

• The king of Assyria sent one such to Hezekiah, prompting a panicked prayer meeting and divine help - 2 Kings 19:14.

Sometimes kings sent letters on behalf of their subjects.

• The king of Syria asked the king of Israel to heal Naaman of leprosy - 2 Kings 5:5.
• King Artaxerxes sent letters on behalf of Nehemiah asking for safe passage  for him through territory and wood for rebuilding Jerusalem - Nehemiah 2:7-8.

The book of Esther is full of letters.

• The king sent letters mandating male authority in the home - Esther 1:22.
• Haman’s plan to annihilate the Jews was spread by letter - Esther 3:13.
• Mordecai’s victory allowing the Jews to defend themselves was spread by letter as was the establishment of a holiday to remember this event - Esther 8:10; 9:20.

Of course we know how the New Testament is largely made up of letters—missives that, thankfully, do more than threaten or carry evil plots. The letter in our reading today is one such. We discover that the reading of it brought joy and encouragement (Acts 15:31), as did most of the letters of Paul, John, Peter, and James (along with teaching, reproof, and training in righteousness, delivered with large amounts of love).

Do you still write letters? I suppose emails and even text messages could be considered modern letters.

What can we moderns do with letters?

• Send information about plans and events.
• Think through and discuss ideas about anything—how to garden, to faith in God
• Express gratitude and appreciation.
• Assure the recipient of our care, concern, and prayers.
• Tell someone we’re remembering them on a special day (birthday, anniversary etc) 
• Encourage and cheer.

Let’s continue to use this old-to-new way of communicating for good today!

PRAYER: Dear Father thank You for distance communication that has survived the centuries. Help me to use the amazing modern communication resources at my fingertips for good today. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.