“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).
MUCH CAN BE LEARNED ABOUT A FAMILY FROM ITS TABLE TALK. And if God is as important to us as we say He is, it is remarkable that we so rarely talk about Him at the table. Why do we relegate the discussion of God to church services, Bible study groups, and other special occasions? If we were to let God out of the box we keep Him in, what do you suppose would happen?
As the text from Deuteronomy illustrates, God wanted Israel’s parents to think of Him and talk of Him as they went about their normal daily routine. It is not likely that faith in God will be passed from one generation to another if He is not woven into the fabric of a family’s regular life. And what God wanted in Israel is no more than what He wants today. As Henry Drummond said, “The family circle is the supreme conductor of Christianity.” If our faith is to be shared, God must be important enough to us that we talk about Him! How truthful is it to say that He is the supreme passion of our existence if He never shows up in our conversation? Can we seek God and keep that a secret from our families?
But there is another reason why we should involve our families in our seeking of God. Not only is it right to talk of God in our homes, but it is in the commonplace activities of our domestic life that we are most likely to find our Lord. Although the Scriptures are the single most important guide to God, seeking God can never be a totally intellectual pursuit. Having thoughtfully read what God reveals of Himself in the Scriptures, we then have to take those truths and investigate them in our most practical relationships, especially those within our home and family. We must not only think about God in the privacy of our own minds; we must talk about Him with those who mean the most to us. And we must not only talk about Him; we must discover Him and deal with Him in the places where our lives are really lived. Wherever we live, that is where the Lord lives too.
“Christ moves among the pots and pans” (Teresa of Avila).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
