We will not hide them from their children
Tue, 26 September, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
4 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.
5 He established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6 that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
8 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.
Organic growth is a buzz word phrase I hear a lot from the business folks at work. The idea is that you don’t have to get new customers to increase the business. If you develop a good working relationship with your customers, you can increase your business by these satisfied customers increasing the business they do with you. You have grown organically.
The same is true in the Christian church. We greatly desire to expand the kingdom of God by the conversion of the unsaved people who live around the world and around the corner. We want to see people brought to Christ through foreign missions and through our own personal evangelism. But even as we seek that kind of growth, we must never forget the organic growth. We desire to see our children come to faith and to grow into mighty warriors for Christ.
The psalmist understood this focus, and in Psalm 78, he encourages us to tell our children about what God has done for us so that they will know of the wonders He has done for us.
What do we learn from this?
This is a common theme in scripture. We are encouraged to talk to our children about the ways of God in all the ordinary daily tasks around the house. We are to teach them God’s rules, and we are to explain to them what God has done for us.
We don’t want Christianity to die out with the current generation. We want to pass on our faith to our children in such a way that they can pass it on to their children. We can’t save them. They have to make the choice to follow Jesus Christ themselves. But we can train them so they know the need for the gospel, the truth of what God has done, and the absolute need for faith in God. To do that, we must tell our children of the things that God has done in history and in our own lives.
Where is Christ in this passage?
The goal of all we do should be for our children to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. We want them to trust fully and only in Jesus Christ for their salvation. For what can compare to the eternal salvation of our children?
