Family Scripture Time - Part 1
Over the next two days I would like to share with you about the importance of family devotions and some practical ideas and perspectives about actually doing them as a family. Whether you’re single, the mom, or the dad, these perspectives will apply and I hope you will find them motivating and encouraging.
As the head of my household I believe leading family devotions is one of my most important responsibilities and it is also a huge part of the whole concept of family discipleship. Moses’ instructions to the Israelites in Deut. 6:6-7 makes it clear that we, as parents, are responsible for making sure our children hear the word of God and are taught to understand it. We need to help them see how it applies in all areas and aspects of life. And, most importantly, that the word of God should be on our hearts, influencing all of how we think, feel, and behave.
When you add in Eph. 6:4, where Paul urges fathers to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, we see more evidence of the parents having primary responsibility for their children’s growth and maturity in life and particularly in the things of God.
We have done a lot of different things over the years for family devotions. As the seasons of life have shifted and changed, we have tried to adjust appropriately. Recently we came across the "Bible Project” and our entire family has really enjoyed it. Right now we have five children in the home with us, ranging in ages from 24 down to 8. And all have found it engaging.
One of the primary aspects of the Bible Project is that it gives overviews of every book in the Bible. And they are done verbally and visually through YouTube videos that combine the theological frameworks of each book along with highly engaging drawings of the the things that take place in each book. In some ways it feels impossible to do it justice in writing. You really need to watch to appreciate them. I’m including a link to the first half of the book of Genesis as an example. Each video is about eight minutes long.
My main encouragement is to get started. It is just like most things that you’ve either never done before, or never been able to establish with consistency. You have to just dive in and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you and give you the ability to pull it off. And He will.
Tomorrow we’ll look more into some of the practical aspects of family devotions as well as some other perspectives I’ve gained over the years.
