Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
Deuteronomy 4:9
"You'll blink and it will all be over."
"When will this part of my life be different?"
Two seemingly opposite phrases that plague the mind of a very parent ever. The phrase "The nights are long but the years are short" comes to mind. Sleepless nights during the you get years. Sick days when they're older, wishing they would feel better. Frustration with disobedience and longing for them to be loving. Pleading with Jesus to save them. The list could go on.
However, the time we get as parents to have them is short in the grand scheme of things. And during that time, they are also being bombarded with 1000 different ideas. How can we ever use our time wisely enough to be able to protect their hearts and minds and teach them as we are commanded?
Deuteronomy 4 is a chapter of Moses pleading with the Israelites to obey God, directly before the 10 commandments are given. In verse 9, he urges them to not forget: the battles fought and won, the hardships, the commandments to obey.
Don't. Forget. Yahweh.
The command so strong to say that they should never let these things fade from their hearts and from the overflow of their remembrance to teach them to their children and grandchildren. Keep teaching them forever.
So many times, there is a generational break and this may not have happened as it was intended. As a sinful people, we fall away. We see it time and time again. But we can't let it end there. We absolutely MUST be the generational change that begins to do what was commanded once more. And if you've grown in a home that did just that, don't become disillusioned and forget! Keep telling!
Contrary to our current Christian cultural leaning, it is NOT the responsibility of the church to guide our kids spiritually. It's not the job of the pastor, the leaders in student or children's ministries, or anyone else. It is OUR job as parents to tell our children: what God has done for us, how He saved us, what His commandments are...
Over. And over. And over. So that we, too, don't forget.
Pray over your children as you teach them. Pray that not only would they understand, but that they would also teach it to their children in obedience to Scripture. Don't stop recalling the goodness of God and never cease to pass that knowledge on.
This is the next article in the series, Pray Over Them.
Article written by Ashley Eason.
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