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Prior Editions
Out
of the habit
...
We’ve
gotten out of the habit, but we’re trying to start it up again.
Starting over always seems harder than starting for the first time.
I’m talking about family devotions.
Each day we are making time to pray together for something other than
fried chicken. We talk with each
other about our days, but often Scripture and learning from it get squeezed out
of our day.
I’m sure my family isn’t too different from yours.
The busy-ness of life gets the best of us and crowds out the things that
we know are truly important. As we
think about getting going again there are a couple of ideas I thought I’d pass
on.
We’re going to find a time that works each day.
The consistency of setting aside the same time each day will help us get
back into a regular routine as a family. We’re
making an appointment with ourselves and with the Lord and holding one another
accountable to keeping it. The kids
are even allowed to remind the adults to honor our devotion time.
We’re also not going to guilt ourselves out if we miss a day here and
there. Work responsibilities, school
projects, holidays, special family functions are all important to us as well.
We will try to keep the interruptions to a minimum, but we recognize that
“stuff happens” now and then.
There are a couple of good resources that help: we’ve used DevoZine,
and Pockets, but there are a bunch of others.
They usually start with a verse or two of scripture and a short
reflection. We read through that
together, but we won’t stop there. I
think there are at least two other elements that you should work into a family
devotion time.
First, we always leave time for questions and some discussion.
Granted fifteen minutes or so doesn’t leave a lot of time, but kids
have questions (hey, adults have questions!) and they want answers.
Part of the discussion is usually pointing out how to apply the Scripture
to our day. Second, we finish with
prayer. We encourage everyone to
pray about something before we’re done so that it becomes a family prayer
time.
I encourage you to start family devotions in your home if you aren’t
doing them already. The treasure
that you are storing in your children’s lives is invaluable.
Don’t pass up the chance to influence your family with the Gospel.
There is no more important investment in your life.
Help your kids discover their purpose and raise them to be young men and
women that go on to disciple others. Proverbs
tells us “train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will
not turn from it.”
Godspeed,
Pastor John
P.S.
Dads, don’t bail and leave this responsibility to your wife.
This is a job for both of you to do together!
Kids need to see women and men seeking God’s guidance and
direction in their lives. Modeling
faithful discipleship through prayer and Bible study begins in your home
– with you!
Mid-Week
Musings
An
Occasional bulletin from Christ United Methodist Church
Prior Editions
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