The Bible has plenty to say about teaching children.
- God chose Abraham to “direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just” (Genesis 18:19)
- Moses was keen to see generation after generation continue to fear the Lord as long as they lived (Deuteronomy 6:1-3), and he instructed the Israelites to impress God’s commands on their children, and to talk about them all the time (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
- Joshua set up a memorial so that future generations would know God’s power and that they would always fear him (Joshua 4:20-24)
- Significantly, Jesus wanted the little children to come to him without hindrance (Mark 10:13-16)
- Paul wanted fathers to “bring them (their children) up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4)
The pattern is clear. God wants children to know about him. He wants future generations to serve him and fear him as God. Raising children in the instruction of the Lord is part of our obedience to scripture, and is one of the ways God chooses to preserve a people on earth who serve him.
Taking children to church, teaching them Sunday School, talking about God with them or reading them their bedtime bible stories, is doing God’s will for their lives, and your lives.
