A Few Words, Every Night
“We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.”Psalm 78:4 (KJV)
Picture a dad who says the same few things to his daughter every night at bedtime. You are loved by us. You are loved by Jesus. You were made in God’s image. You can tell us anything. It takes less than a minute.
One night it doesn’t look like much. But do it for a childhood and it adds up to thousands of nights. By the time she is grown, those words aren’t something she was told. They are something she knows.
That is how faith has always been passed on. “We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD.” Paul reminded Timothy, “from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures.” Somebody said those things to him, again and again, when he was small.
You don’t need a perfect family devotion plan. You need a few true words, said on purpose, over and over. Repetition isn’t boring to a child. It is how they learn what is solid.
Read it yourself
Read 2 Timothy 1:5 and 3:14–15. Who does Paul name as the people who passed faith on to Timothy?
What few true words could you start saying to your children, or someone younger, on a regular rhythm?
Father, help me say what is true to the people in my home, again and again, until they know it for themselves. Amen.