This first session pointed to the way we should train our children. Beth addressed the question:
How can we make an invisible God visible to children?
1. By learning to love Him ourselves. (John 14:19-23; 5:17)
2. By exerting primary influence while you can. (Prov. 4:1-4, 10, 20-21)
[tender in Hebrew means "soft-hearted, pliable."]
3. By personally demonstrating the relevance of God's Word. (Prov.3:5-6)
4. By seizing opportunities to teach about God. (Deut. 6:4-9)
5. By growing with them! (1 Cor. 13:11)
6. By dedicating them to God. (Prov. 22:6)
[train up in Hebrew means:
1. "to disciple."
2. "to dedicate."]
"Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it. "
Beth also made some other observations based on Scripture and Jewish customs:
-children learn by repetition.
-children learn by 'seizing the moment'-applying God's truth in everyday life.
-children learn first thing in the morning. (Matt.6:33)
(She suggested putting a prayer journal, or a devotional, or a verse of the day out where everyone signs or writes request daily.)
This was sobering for me, realizing I have not trained up my boys as well as I should have. Thank God for His mercy and fresh new starts. Steve Green's Find Us Faithful speaks about the footprints we leave behind. Listen and pray with me.
3 comments:
Another song which touches me deep inside.Really meaningful.
Somehow there are very few contemporary which i find soul stirring like this.
What you say about raising children is really true.
This is excellent! I have been thinking a lot lately about how it is MY responsibility to raise my girls to know Him! I'm going to copy down this list. Thank you for sharing it, Sita!
After this particular session of the study, I printed the words of the Shema from Deut. 6:5-9 and taped them to the doorframe of my house. It remains there today...6 years down the road. It is also the prayer I have rolled up and stuck inside the prayer box charm on my necklace. This particular study really was the start for me in looking at scripture in a whole new light.
Enjoy friend.
peace~elaine
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