Teaching Diligently Our Children

Minister:
Date: PM
Text: Deuteronomy 6:6-7
Psalters: 251, 90, 359, 214
Sacrament of Baptism
  • Deuteronomy 6: 6,7

    Baptism: Abel Jax Nienhuis

    TEACHING DILIGENTLY OUR CHILDREN

    I. Teaching What 

    A. We are to teach “these words,” i.e., God’s law.

    1. God’s law arises out of His own Being (who and what He is).

    2. In the Old Testament there were the ceremonial laws, the civil laws, and the moral law.

    B. God’s people enjoy the same covenant relationship today.

    1. While the form (a nation with ceremonial and civil laws) has changed, the essence remains: He is a God to us.

    2. Jesus brought the realities of the covenant (God in flesh), obtaining salvation and righteousness.

    C.Therefore, we are to see that “these words” teach salvation in the covenant relationship.

    II. These words are to taught diligently all the time.

    A. To “teach” means to sharpen.

    1. The teaching must be sharp, i.e., clear and definite, not ambiguous with choices and options.

    2. And the teaching is to sharpen the children’s thinking, so they understand clearly.

    B. The teaching must be “diligently,” i.e., thorough and constant (the frequency is described in verse 7).

    1. This describes an agricultural society with one or two room houses.

    2. Every part of the day is to be seized as God-given opportunities to teach.

    III. The only way parents can keep this God-given calling is by having these words “in thine heart.”

    A. We cannot put them into our children, but we can have them in our hearts and heads (but not just our head).

    1. This means that we keep them as a part of our constant thinking.

    2. This means that we love (heart) God and His words, cherishing them and seeing them as a great treasure.

    B. Diligent instruction of God’s word to our children requires time, energy, and self-denial.