When God saved Israel, he told them to tell their children the story. Why? So that their family line would never forget God’s power and grace. Even before Israel had escaped Egypt, God said, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD (Exodus 10:1-2, italics mine).” God’s plan went beyond saving a generation. God’s plan was to save a family line.
God has the same plan for your family. God has rescued you from sin in a miraculous way for a reason. Don’t keep this story to yourself! God didn’t just save you for your sake – he saved you for your children’s sake. Tell your children your story so that they will never forget who God is and what he is like – compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6).
Some of you may feel that your story isn’t that good. Maybe you grew up in church; maybe you just weren’t all that bad before you became a Christian. However, this doesn’t mean that God didn’t save you in a miraculous way. The truth is that you were once a slave to sin. You were commanded to please God but were completely unable to do so. In short, you were destined for a life of misery and eternal punishment. But God, in a completely gracious act, looked down, saw your trouble, and chose to rescue you (Exodus 3:7-8). With one mighty act, God saved you by sending Jesus to die in your place. Now that’s a story worth telling!
As a new parent, I wish I could choose for my daughter Elizabeth to follow God for the rest of her life. But that’s not how God set it up. All of our children have to choose God for themselves. The most we can do for our children is exactly what God commands: our job is to show our children how great God is. You can do this in many ways: you can read them the Bible, you can sing songs about God with them, you can model a great love for God in your own life… but perhaps the most important thing you can do for your children is to tell them the story of how you were saved. Nothing could be more personal and powerful in a child’s life than to hear their parents explain why they love God so much.
“We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD… so the next generation… would put their trust in God.” –Psalm 78:4-7
By God’s grace,
Pastor Stephen
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