Let’s share the details of God’s part in our stories. Here’s why
By Dean Collins
It wasn’t Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young who first told us to teach our children well! But their song is a good reminder of what God wants us to do to educate the generation coming behind us. All the way back to the story of the Exodus and through many books of Scripture, this injunction is repeated. Teach your children the things of God. Let them know of God’s power, his love, and his deliverance.
As you read through Deuteronomy, it is pretty clear that God expects older people of faith to teach the younger generation. A prerequisite of our teaching our younger and older children begins with this instruction from Moses: “Take care, and keep your souls diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.” This is why our daily rhythm of prayer, Bible reading, and meditation on the things of God and what God is doing in our lives is critical. If we don’t pay attention to God and his Word, then we will have little truth to pass along.
Daily practice
It seems the lessons we have learned from God are to be filled with details of what God did in our lives. This includes how he found us, how he saved us, and how he has helped us in small and large ways. A daily practice of recalling the ways God has been present in each day will help ensure that we don’t miss God’s activity. If we are not careful, we might begin to think the blessings of God are more about us and less about God.
The instruction of Moses is that we should make it a daily practice of sharing the things of God with our children, “when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise.” It seems that Moses basically told us to talk about God with our children as a normal part of our daily lives. Our daily meals, our conversations in the car, our evening conversations before bedtime are all important opportunities to share what God did for us in a particular situation or on a given day. Our goal is not to force God into our conversations but rather to demonstrate how normally he is involved in our affairs.
In Deuteronomy 6:20-25 there is emphasis on frequent telling of the big things and milestones of victory that God has provided. For the Israelites, this involved recalling how they were once in bondage in Egypt and how God miraculously freed them from slavery, got them through the wilderness, and gave them freedom and homes in the Promised Land.
Not too general
The temptation in telling our stories is to be overly general and not share the specifics. It might be true simply to say, “God has gotten me through some tough times.” But sharing specific times that he provided healing from illness, walked with us through grief, provided just the right amount of money when we didn’t know if we could buy groceries, or gave us the wisdom and the right words in a difficult situation can be great moments of instruction both for our younger and our older children.
We know that God provides, that he demonstrates his love, and that he rescues. If we want our children and grandchildren to know the goodness of God and to follow him, then we must get better at telling our stories of God’s involvement in the big and small things we all go through.
Your time with God’s Word
Deuteronomy 4:9-10; 6:6-7, 20-25 ESV
Photo by Isaac Quesada on Unsplash
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