March 14
Deuteronomy 6:1-9:29
God never told us to outsource biblical teaching. Finding a solid church is important. Placing your children in youth groups in the church is also a good thing. But just as God created man and woman to be one in marriage, He also gave us the family to raise biblically. How this looks changes over time, as children grow up. We need to be intentional with our time, as we cease the time that God has given us. When my children were young, I would sit with them on the bed with a children's illustrated Bible and read to them, and paraphrase stories as their young ears could handle. The next phase involved years of activities (sports, dance, theater, etc.). Though many are frustrated by all of that driving, these were the years that I would turn off the radio, and I had their full attention for the drive. As we are doing now in this group, I have been reading through the Bible for years. I would paraphrase to my children what it was that I had read that day, and then apply God's Word to my life and theirs to help them see that the Bible was real. A little later, activities became less, and time with peers became more prominent. I wrote Bible cards (as my kids called them), an index card with a verse or two, followed by a little application, and placed it on their pillows before they went off to sleep. Once they left our house, it was on the phone. During various phases of their lives I committed to more in depth, verse by verse teaching with them, and wrote commentary which I deemed would connect with them for the period of life that they were in. Most importantly, though a sinner like everyone else, I pray that I modeled what having Jesus in the center of my heart looked like. I pray that they saw authenticity, and not hypocrisy, of one who desires to know Him more and more with each day that He gives me.
Read the words in Deuteronomy 6:4-7, " “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. “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." Notice these instructions were meant for the people to be intentional with God, both personally, and when with our families. Jesus modeled God centeredness best, being God incarnate. Jesus was always intentional, but He was also always aware. Jesus would notice the blind person, the deaf individual, the lame person and would move into their lives as the situation was created. When we see Jesus raise the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17), if He was absorbed in His "to do" list, He could have taken no notice to the procession. But He took notice, and raised the son of the widow from the dead.
God wants to reside in the center of our lives. He desires to reveal more and more of Himself to us. He provides countless opportunities for us. The problem is never with God, but with us. We need to be both intentional with our time, while at the same time aware of our surroundings. We need to plan, and at the same time react. That is what Jesus did, that is what He desires for us. If this is not what your life in Christ looks like, then don't look elsewhere for a revival to take place. Come to Him in brokenness. He uses empty vessels. We simply need to empty ourselves of anything that prevents us from making Him everything.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: