In Deuteronomy 6, Moses tells God’s people to teach their children about God “When you sit in your house.”
That is a loaded statement for times have changed quite a bit. Do parents and children “sit” in their house together anymore?
If so, do they do it with the TV turned off? And if the TV is turned off, do they do it without their cellphones?
It seems as if the idea of parents and children actually sitting down together to talk about God rarely happens these days. But let me encourage you to not give up on aiming for that. Let me encourage you to keep desiring that home-life.
The Christmas season is the ideal time to be casually talking with people about God.
Our family devotional is at its best during the Advent season. A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about what our Advent Family devotionals look like.
Each evening we turn all of our attention toward this special time. We turn the TV off, and we all gather together on the couch. As our children are growing up (JJ is about to turn 6. Eli is 4. And Noah is 3.), they are understanding the Gospel message and the Christmas story better and better each time they hear it.
It is so enjoyable as a dad to sit unhurried with my wife and children and take our time reading and discussing God.
Let me tell one great story from our experience: The other night we were reading about the 10 Plagues and the Passover, in the book of Exodus. When the angel of death came, my middle son Eli asked “is that real?”
I said, “Yes, it is real.” Noah, my youngest, then speaks up and says “Thats scary!”
Then Eli again speaks up asking “Is that in our city?” (what a question!)
I quickly comforted them by explaining why the angel of death was there. And I reminded them that there was a simple and clear way to be safe.
That then led into a great discussion about how God never punishes anyone without first giving them opportunity to be saved and forgiven.
It was fascinating. They were seeing how good God is. He is nice. He always does what is best and right. He loves us.
Trust God, and you will be safe!
I am thankful that God taught me to sit in my house with my family to talk about Him.