“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 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. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”
Great orator and teacher Daniel Webster once said, “If we work on marble it will perish. If we work on brass, time will efface it. If we rear temples, they will crumble to dust. But if we work on men’s immortal minds, if we imbue them with high principles, with just fear of God and love of their fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something which time cannot efface, and which will brighten and brighten to all eternity.”
It is true that many things we do here on earth will one day pass away. All time we invested in work, hobbies, and leisure will be wasted at the end of time. But teaching others of God’s Word and sharing Christ’s love with them will last all eternity.
One of the main environments in which we can teach others is in our homes. God desires that we would take time to teacher, exhort, and encourage our children with the commands and statutes of God. Notice our verse, “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” (vs 7).
God wants us to teach our children the principles of His Word. He wants us to take time to teach them what it means not to lie, how to treat other people, what things we should and shouldn’t do, and other godly, basic principles of His Word. The church shouldn’t be the main institution of learning godly principles for your children; God established the home for training and learning.
Many times Christian parents fail to teach their children godly principles because they are simply too busy with other tasks. They labor all day at work, come home to prepare dinner, then want nothing more than to relax, read a book, watch a sports game, or spend time working on a hobby. While there is nothing wrong with relaxing, God desires that we would dedicate time to train our children—
How are you teaching and nurturing your children? Do you spend quality time with them, teaching them principles from God’s Word? One of the ways you can keep God at the forefront of your life is by taking time to teach godly principles to your children.(By Dr. Paul Chappell)
