The New School Year

The first day of school is right around the corner isn’t it? My oldest son works for Wal-Mart. Recently, during his over night shift he was stocking the school supplies on the shelves all night long. Parents will soon be running to stores like Wal-Mart getting all of the necessary items (backpacks, binders, pencils, etc) for their children to have a successful school year. As you help your child/ren prepare for their upcoming year, make sure that you have scheduled time for consistent time in the Word and prayer as a family.

The “I have to” syndrome

There are plenty of things that we “have to do” when a new school year comes. We may “have to” get up earlier, get used to a new schedule, get used to a fall church and sports routine etc. One thing that we don’t want to forget in the shuffle of new things we “have to do” is family worship. In fact, family worship should be something that we “get to do,” not “have to do.”

It’s Simple!

You don’t have to be a theologian or pastor to be faithful in family worship. You don’t have to be able to lead worship through song or the preaching of the Word. All you have to do is three simple things. Read, Sing, Pray. Start by simply reading a chapter in the N.T. with your family each morning. Pray for your children and sing together. If you aren’t great at singing, let the new Christian hits on YouTube drown you out. If you are more traditional, guess what? Those songs are on the internet as well. Take time to invest, encourage and pour Jesus into your family each day.

A Warning/Reminder

Psalm 78 is a warning to families about what happens when they don’t pour truth into the next generation. The first 8 verses of this Psalm are encouraging and great, but if you keep reading you quickly see what happened to the faithless generation that perished in the wilderness and weren’t able to enter the holy land. God judged that first generation along with Moses because of their stubborn and rebellious hearts.

You Get to

You have the blessing this year of starting each day out with the truth of scripture, prayer and singing in your home. Have Christian music already playing when the kids get up. Many times this can snap even the crankiest of kids out of a bad mood. Transition into a few minutes of bible reading around the fire place followed by prayer. Make this a priority as you get used to the new schedule of the school year. Your time with children at home will go by fast. Be faithful while you have them!

“Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!  I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;
and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.”
Psalm 78:1-8

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