THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT LEADING YOUR FAMILY
SPIRITUALLY
Psalm 78:9-11
9 The
Ephraimites, armed with the bow,
turned
back on the day of battle.
10 They
did not keep God's covenant,
but
refused to walk according to his law.
11 They
forgot his works
and
the wonders that he had shown them.
How can this be?! Israel had watched God perform miracles,
defeat enemies, provide in miraculous ways, and yet they ignored their God. The
evidence for the answer comes as a clear testimony from God, Himself: they ‘refused’
to obey His law and they ‘forgot’ His works for them!
The psalmist began this psalm by commanding the fathers to
teach and transmit to the children the truth about their God. This instruction
cannot be done one time for all, but needs to be repeated consistently within
the family. We tend to forget easily. God knows this, and commands us to
remember and remind others continually.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
“Hear, O
Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these
words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them
diligently to your children, 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. You
shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between
your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your
gates.
The command was very clear. The children of Israel needed to
love their God completely and love His word. As they submitted in heart and
action to this command, they needed to do all that was necessary to teach their
children His words and lead their families in attitudes of love and submission
to their God.
Dear fathers and mothers, is this a priority in your lives?
Have you taken personal responsibility to teach and guide your families in
these vital areas? Obviously, you cannot teach what you have not learned, and
you cannot model attitudes that your behavior does not show!
So many parents believe that their major responsibility is
to provide financially for their children. The Lord does command them to
provide for the family, but that provision was for their needs, not necessarily
their desires to have particular things. Parents
today are, many times, overwhelmed by working to provide their children far
beyond their necessities. Much effort is placed in providing extracurricular activities
like music and sports, for example. They are certainly good and useful, but are
they crowding out the even more valuable aspect of life, the eternal matters?
At this point, it is necessary to stop and assess our own lives.
1 – Are we taking the time to grow spiritually so that we
can instruct our children in the things of God?
This is not a job that we should relegate to a youth pastor
or a Christian school. Although we are grateful for these provisions, it
remains our responsibility. We must take time to grow, for we can only teach what
we learn and live. It must be fresh, the result of an ongoing personal growth.
2 – Are we living a life that is an example for our family?
The use of our time speaks loudly about what is important to us! Our attitudes
expose what is really in our hearts. Our priorities preach what we love.
As parents, we learn on the job! It is important to find
others who have done a good job in caring spiritually for their children and
ask them to give us advice. And God’s Word is full of His principles for
teaching our children His ways!
3 – Is there a need to change? True change can only come
through the help of the Lord. We must repent and truly ask God to reset our
ways and priorities.
Changes in our families’ dynamics might not be received well
at first; we must take the time to explain why we are making the changes and
confess our shortcomings to those involved. We need to understand that our
neglect has had consequences; but we must trust God to help us.
Overall, the psalmist reminds us that God was faithful to
His people. Yes, He expected their obedience, but He always showed grace to
them when they repented and turned to Him for help.
We are so blessed by the fact that God has given us His Word.
Reading this psalm is a powerful and loving reminder to all of us.
God is the One who changes lives. We cannot change hearts;
but what we can do is be obedient, ask God’s help continually, and trust Him
for the results! Men, you must remember that you are the ones to whom God has
given the responsibility to lead in this way! We certainly don’t want our
families to forget God!
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