Let’s Be Real
Our children are being influenced (aka discipled). The question is, are you the one doing it, or is it the world that is shaping the lives of your children? God has made it clear in the scriptures that we, fathers, are responsible for the raising of our children, for raising them up IN THE LORD. It has never been more obvious than now that the world wants to do the opposite. God has called you to teach them truth, love, righteousness, and justice from the scriptures alone. The world, like Satan, is crafty, and the world is crafting many ways to teach and train our kids the same themes, as mentioned above, but with definitions in direct contrast to God’s word. Fathers, God has placed upon you the wonderful, joy-filled duty to raise your children in the disciple and instruction OF THE LORD (Ephesians 6:4).
So, dads, here are the questions we have to ask ourselves…
Do we truly trust God?
Do we truly trust his commands and instructions to us?
Do we truly obey his commands and instructions?
If we answer yes to all the above, let us ask ourselves these questions…
Do you regularly pray with your children?
Do you regularly read the bible to your children?
Do you have regular conversations with your children about Jesus?
Do your children consume more from reading the bible, family conversations, Sunday School, bible studies, and Sunday gatherings than they do from Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, TikTok, Snapchat, Youtube, etc?
If we can answer yes to the first set of questions, but struggle to answer yes to the second set of questions, we may be falling short as Christian dads.
Don't Be So Serious
At this point you may begin to think I am going too far, pushing too hard, being too spiritual, and being unrealistic... Ah yes, hear the word of the LORD...
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9
With that passage in mind, consider how you ought to teach, when you ought to teach, and where you ought to teach your children the words of God.
First, teach them diligently. The Hebrew word for diligent paints a picture of intensive piercing. Fathers, be so diligent to teach your children the word of the Lord that it enters and embeds inside of them.
Second, teach them in your house, when you walk by the way, lie down, and rise. Teach them everywhere and all the time.
Third, bind them (the words of God) on your hands, your eyelids, doorposts, and gates. Meaning: surround your family with the words of God.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:14-15
Skeptical?
So you may be a skeptic. Is the world really trying to influence our children away from the truth of God?
The simple answer is ABSOLUTELY YES, and it could not be more obvious. This week, footage from a meeting at Disney, full of executives, showed their blatant agenda to teach and influence children against the truths of God in scripture. Take some time to watch the following clips below...
Disney’s agenda for their content is directly against that which we want our children to learn. It directly undermines the truth of the Bible.
Now What?
My purpose here isn’t to slam Disney (although they rightfully need to be, and my wife and I informed our kiddos during lunch that we are canceling our Disney+ subscription, and why), but my purpose is to call Christian parents (fathers, most importantly) to wake up. I'm not telling us to start a cult in the woods and burn all our devices. No, I just want us to wake up. Wake up to the fact that Satan and the fallen world are training your children in their ways, ways that are directly against God. We need to wake up to the fact that we have slowly given our children over to them, and realize that the one or two hours of “bible teaching” that they receive from a Sunday school class or youth night is not going to be enough to counteract the hundreds of hours of teaching they receive from the world when at school, on social media, and on their many devices each and every week.
Christian dads, who trust God and His Word, I challenge you today to take up the holy duty of raising your children up IN THE LORD. I challenge myself along with you, that we pour out Christ our God and Savior before our precious children. I challenge us to be more concerned about feeding them the Bread of Life, than feeding them 3 meals a day. Let us take up our responsibility of guarding our family against the schemes of the devil. Let us not be satisfied with taking them to church for an hour or two a week and hoping it will balance out the many hours they spend on their phones, tablets, and smart TVs soaking up the ways of the world.
Fathers, let’s turn off the devices and open up the word of God with our families. Let’s teach Christ to our families whether we are at home or walking along the way. Let us stand guard between the ways of the world and our children while wearing the armor of God extinguishing the flaming darts of the evil one (Ephesians 6:10-20).
If you have any questions about what that looks like or how to start, please feel free to contact me through Messenger, or find my information on our church website ozarksbiblechurch.org. If you are looking for a church home that places Christ and His word above all, consider visiting us at Ozarks Bible Church, Sundays at 11 am in Byron Arkansas.
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