Put God in Your Home
Fix these words of mine in your hearts
and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when
you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
– Deuteronomy 11:18-19
There’s one of those Facebook things that goes around
periodically. All my conservative friends share it. Why not? It sounds good. It
basically says that if we want to fix our country we need to put God back in
our schools and our government. What believer could possibly argue with that?
I wonder what would happen if we stopped worrying
about God in our schools and government and focused on putting God back in our
homes. Yes. You read that right. Our homes.
It’s not up to the schools to teach our children about
God and about faith and about right and wrong. They should be getting that at
home. Faith isn’t about a monument or what’s on a piece of paper. It’s about what’s
in our hearts.
Do your children see you praying? I’m not talking
about the set prayer you offer before a meal. I’m talking about those prayers that
come from the heart. The ones that name specific people and makes specific
requests. Do they see you reading and studying your Bible on a daily basis?
How often do you attend church? Is it one of those
things you do when it’s convenient or when you have nothing better – such as a
beach trip – to do? Are your children involved in Sunday school, VBS, choir,
sports, youth, and other activities offered by your church? Or are they allowed
to say no because their friends from school aren’t involved?
Do you talk about your faith with your children? Do
you tell them how you came to know Jesus? Do you give Him credit for your many
blessings or do you take all the credit for yourself?
Do you tell the truth, even when it might result in
something negative for you? Do your children see integrity in your words and
actions? Or do they see someone who fudges on time slips and pads expense
accounts? Do they hear your words of praise or do you fill their ears with
complaints?
Do you show mercy and grace to people who have done
nothing to earn it? Do you remember and explain that God has shown us that same
kind of grace and mercy? Do you give without being asked or do you grumble at
every little bit the church or charities request? Do you volunteer? Do you give
back? Or do you just take and take as though you have a right to do so with no responsibility
to ever return even a portion of what you’ve received?
Be careful, or you will be enticed to
turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. – Deuteronomy 11:16
The world tells us we deserve only the best. The world
tells us it’s okay to put ourselves first. The world tells us we can skirt the
truth, have that extra drink, be a cut-throat business person. The world says
it’s just politics when you pass over someone more qualified to do a favor for
a friend. But God says something entirely different.
Start children off on the way they
should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. – Proverbs 22:6
What do your children see when they observe your life?
Stop worrying about putting God back in schools and the government. Focus on putting
Him back in your home and He’ll take care of the rest.
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