dom necessary for your task. Ask Him for His divine guidance. There is no better guidebook on child rearing than the Bible. It is more up-to-date than any contem porary volumes of our day. It goes without saying that it is not easy to bring up children today. The way we live before them as examples will do far more than anything else to determine their future. We are to bring up these with whom God has entrusted us, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. All of this requires personal dedication. No Christian home should be without family devotions. It has been well said that a family altar will alter your family. God com manded the Jewish people to in struct their children in the laws of the Lord as they sat in the house, as they walked along the way, as they rose from bed or retired for the night (Deut. 6:5-15). This is going to require diligence on the part of the parents. A hurried bed time prayer, or a quick work of blessing before meals, as the only spiritual emphasis in the home can hardly be interpreted as "diligent teaching." As the divinely appoint ed head of the family the father is charged with the task of bring ing up his children in the fear and the admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). One day a Sunday school teach er asked her class, "Who can tell me one thing that is in the Bible?" One little girl proudly responded, "I can tell you everything that is in the Bible." The teacher was pleased until she heard her explain, "There is a picture of grandpa; a sample of my new dress; a recipe for mother's special cake; and a lock of my baby brother's hair." To her,
see it in a minute. We too often say, "Do not do as I do, do as I say." Such a philosophy will never work! Look at the proper exhorta tion in Deut. 6:5, 6. Let that be your watchword even today. Children are an heritage from the Lord. We are going to have to answer in eternity for the way we discharged our responsibilities to them. The first requisite is person al dedication. You must set the example and lead the way. Chil dren learn from and imitate their parents. From his father a boy learns many things. These range from how to hold a hammer to how to train a wife. A girl learns from her mother both how to thread a needle and how to train a husband. In the spiritual realm children learn from their parents, too. They observe the attitudes and behav ior concerning the things of Christ and His church. There is little hope that a man's son will value prayer, Bible reading, church attendance, and Christian service if he does not see his father have an interest in them. If you do not have any spiritual or real moral values in life, do not expect your children to have any either. No wonder Moses ordered the parents of Israel to have an undivided love for God. Israel's dedication was not only to be extensive, but also explosive. Cod commanded them to serve Him alone, and He warned them against following after other gods. If they failed judgment would come upon them. History records the ac curacy of that prophecy again and again. Yes, rearing a family can be a real problem, but the Lord desires to give you the strength and wis- Page 50
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