"The Christian family was the bulwark of godliness in the days of the Puritans; but in these evil times hundreds of families of so-called Christians have no family worship, no restraint upon growing sons, and no wholesome instruction or discipline. See how the families of many professors are as dressy, as godless as the children of the non-religious! How can we hope to see the Kingdom of our Lord advance when His own disciples do not teach His gospel to their own sons and daughters?" | C. H. SpurgeonMen, I'm going to ask you a challenging question? What are you doing to intentionally protect family worship in your home?
It's interesting to me, to see that the trivialization of the Christian family was already an issue in England in the 1800's when C.H. Spurgeon penned the statement above. Sadly, when we look at our culture today, we can clearly see this generation suffers from the same indifference to the Christian family. The evidence of this in our own homes is clear; our family is being pulled in a hundred different directions while we watch in disbelief as the precious time we once shared together slips through our fingers. So again I'll ask you the question, what are you doing to intentionally protect family worship in your home?
We understand the importance of our responsibility to train our kids in holiness and even if we don't Proverbs 22:6 is a stern reminder of this responsibility. We understand that our primary duty as husbands and fathers is to shepherd our wives and children. But sometimes knowing the truth and living the truth seem so incompatible with one another.
Take a look at an average week for your family. What are you investing the majority of your time into? Maybe it's soccer, baseball, yard work, dance, Scouts, or something else. Now don't get me wrong...these are not bad things in and of themselves...but like anything else, they can easily be distractions from what our primary investment should be as a family, namely, spiritual growth and discipleship. As we continue to let our family worship take a backseat to other activities, we must also recognize that we are still teaching our children something about God in this decision. The problem is, the lesson they are learning from us is that their time with God doesn't really matter that much. And when they leave the home and go to college or somewhere else...these lessons will begin to play out in their own lives and decisions. Homework or time with friends will take priority over the time they invest into their own spiritual growth. When our children grow up and have families of their own, the legacy we left them with in regards to family worship will no doubt play out in their own families. Are we teaching our children well? Are we leaving them a legacy that we can be proud of?
Gentlemen, please don't let this challenge fall on deaf ears. The reality is that laziness or indifference in this area of our shepherding responsibilities could easily have eternal consequences. One day we will give an account to God for how we chose to shepherd the children he placed under our watchcare and protection. So again I'll ask you this question; what are you doing to intentionally protect family worship in your home? Please take the time to honestly answer that question, before it's too late.
For His Glory,
Jason
We understand the importance of our responsibility to train our kids in holiness and even if we don't Proverbs 22:6 is a stern reminder of this responsibility. We understand that our primary duty as husbands and fathers is to shepherd our wives and children. But sometimes knowing the truth and living the truth seem so incompatible with one another.
My prayer for each of us is this; as the activities which pull our families apart begin to pick up and our kids want to be involved in more and more things...that we will do our part (as the shepherds of our home) to protect family worship and discipleship within our homes, at all costs.As men, we bear the primary responsibility of shepherding our children's hearts. No doubt, one of the roles of a shepherd is to provide for our children, but our responsibility doesn't end there. We can't simply say, "I put food on the table and a roof over their heads" and then check out on the other responsibilities of a shepherd. A faithful shepherd "protects" the flock God has entrusted to him. To me, this means that we must be intentional about our family worship and discipleship efforts in our home and we must also be willing to put a fence (read: defense) around these things in order that nothing (not even good things) gets in the way of them.
Take a look at an average week for your family. What are you investing the majority of your time into? Maybe it's soccer, baseball, yard work, dance, Scouts, or something else. Now don't get me wrong...these are not bad things in and of themselves...but like anything else, they can easily be distractions from what our primary investment should be as a family, namely, spiritual growth and discipleship. As we continue to let our family worship take a backseat to other activities, we must also recognize that we are still teaching our children something about God in this decision. The problem is, the lesson they are learning from us is that their time with God doesn't really matter that much. And when they leave the home and go to college or somewhere else...these lessons will begin to play out in their own lives and decisions. Homework or time with friends will take priority over the time they invest into their own spiritual growth. When our children grow up and have families of their own, the legacy we left them with in regards to family worship will no doubt play out in their own families. Are we teaching our children well? Are we leaving them a legacy that we can be proud of?
Gentlemen, please don't let this challenge fall on deaf ears. The reality is that laziness or indifference in this area of our shepherding responsibilities could easily have eternal consequences. One day we will give an account to God for how we chose to shepherd the children he placed under our watchcare and protection. So again I'll ask you this question; what are you doing to intentionally protect family worship in your home? Please take the time to honestly answer that question, before it's too late.
For His Glory,
Jason
No comments:
Post a Comment