Giving Jesus to kids

I’ve been working on a sermon entitled, Good Sundays Make Better Families. Deuteronomy 6 tells me I have the responsibility to teach my kids about God. It’s not the Sunday School teacher’s job they provide nothing more than the gravy that goes with the biscuit.

My disclaimer to what I’m writing is that just because we do the right thing and we raise our kids in the world’s greatest spiritual environment doesn’t mean our kids will turn out to be the world’s greatest Christian (or even Christians at all). It is what we want and I would pray that as you work hard that God would bless your efforts but the truth is as Coach Belichick would say, “Do your job.” We do our job, we plant seeds but let’s all remember what the Apostle Paul said in 1st Corinthians 3:7, “Only God makes things grow.” So hang in there, do what God wants and have faith.

I was blessed to be raised by parents that love Jesus a lot. They did not just teach me about God, they showed me in their everyday life what it was like to follow the Rabbi. My father had a great salvation experience and I got to see his relationship with Christ skyrocket, my siblings and I were really along for the ride and it was awesome to see it unfold. The Methodist church played a big part in my family’s spiritual journey to which I am forever grateful. John Wesley is my hero no doubt.

I am reminded of what Peter said to the beggar on the steps of the gathering place, “Silver and gold I do not have but what I have I give to you.” As parents we may not have money but what we have which is of the greatest value is Jesus and that is what my parents gave to me and what I have wanted to give to my children.

What we are thinking together about is a spiritual inheritance. Is the family fortune growing? What are we doing to make it grow? Are we investing well and are we distributing it among the children equally? And how do we share the inheritance? Just like anything we have to have it in order to give it. If it’s not on the inside it won’t show on the outside. It takes a disciple to make a disciple. Our kids should know we have a pocket full of Jesus and hopefully this might encourage them to want a pocket full of Jesus too.

It is sad that we ensure our kids have every opportunity to succeed in life when it comes to education and sports. What I mean is we buy them the best football shoes and baseball gloves, we send them to sports camps so they will be ahead of the other kids, but when it comes to following Jesus not so much. Why is that? Why is the youth group a choice, but we make them go to soccer practice? Something is screwed up about that. My parents made me do a lot of things that I hated and sometimes home Bible study and church services were a part of that. I’m so glad they stayed the course and made me do the right thing.

He told me to tell you that.