Diligently Teach Them
We are to diligently teach our kids about God’s ways, His law, His attributes and everything that He has revealed to us in His Word. How diligent? Tirelessly diligent! Teach these things when you’re sitting, walking, laying down, and getting up. Teach these things by tying them to yourselves, and keeping them on your doorposts and on your gates.
In today’s world, people often view children as an inconvenience or an annoyance. Even some Christians think this way and dream about the day when all the kids are out of the house. But, the Bible teaches us that children are a blessing:
“Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate” (Psalm 127:3-5).
The Psalmist tells us that the man who has a quiver full of children is happy. The Hebrew word for happy can also be translated blessed. It is important that we as fathers remember that each of our children is a gift from God. We should not feel ashamed that we are fathers. To the contrary, it gives us a great reason to rejoice.
With that, remember your duty to diligently teach your children to love God and follow His ways. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 reminds us of this high task before us. Moses instructed the Israelites on what to do when they entered the promised land. He reminded them who their God is and told them to love Him with all that they are.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (vss. 4-5).
Then, we get to the meat of what we are to do. His instruction is just as pertinent to parents today as we seek to raise our children wisely: “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” (vss. 6-9).
Diligently Teach
Diligently is a key word in verse 7. We are to diligently teach our kids about God’s ways, His law, His attributes and everything that He has revealed to us in His Word. How diligent? Tirelessly diligent! Teach these things when you’re sitting, walking, laying down, and getting up. Teach these things by tying them to yourselves, and keeping them on your doorposts and on your gates. That is a straightforward command.
We should not view this as a burden. But, we should feel encouraged that God gave us such an awesome responsibility. As fathers (and mothers, too), God gave us the exciting assignment of showing our kids God’s ways, who He is, and all that He has done. And, the most important thing we can give them is the gospel. Nothing is more important than the news that all of us are born dead in transgressions and sins, but Christ can make us alive (Ephesians 2:1). We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23), but God, being rich in mercy, will save us by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:5-9). He sent His Son to die on the cross on our behalf to satisfy God’s wrath (1 John 2:2) that we might receive forgiveness of sins and everlasting life in Jesus (Colossians 1:14, John 3:16).
So, on this Father’s Day, remember what a blessing each of your children is, and remember your wonderful duty of teaching them about our great Father in heaven.