Shema

 August 10, 2021

“The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua and the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen the great works of the LORD…When all their generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them, who did not know the LORD nor the work he had done for Israel.” —Judges 2:7 & 9

How did this happen? How could the people of God fall away so precipitously? It’s really simple: they had no personal experience of the great works of God because the generation that experienced them neglected to teach their children the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:6-7. “These words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them…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 door posts of your house…”

Success in life means nothing if I fail to teach my children. Faith is always but one generation from extinction; as our old friend Everett Scofield used to say, “God has no grandchildren.” Failure to teach our children is catastrophic. Nothing I do as a man, as a pastor, or as a father is more important than teaching my children to know the LORD. Failure to know the Lord invites testing (2:22) that is otherwise avoidable. Churches are in crisis because we have delegated the teaching of our faith to pastors and Sunday School teachers who cannot do in an hour or two what we fail to do for the remaining 166 hours of each week. Similarly, I believe we are being tested today as a nation because we have turned over the education of our children to strangers.

My prayer tonight is simple: “Lord, show me how to raise up young fathers who will teach their children well. “This generation” hasn’t yet passed; I’m still here, so there is still time, and with it, great reason to hope.