With this particular post, I want to share what happened one evening at the Barnett home that turned out to be one of the sweetest nights after I was greatly rebuked by a 6-year-old boy named Wilson.
There is nothing more sweet in this life than to see my children look forward to family devotions. If it wasn't for the eagerness of Wilson's heart to have family altar, I might have missed one of the sweetest opportunities to see that my children were growing spiritually. I want to first of all say that before you decide that family altar is a waste of time, or if you are getting slack with it...fan that flame that is going out! Move to a different place of the fire and take a different angle. Consider family altar as a chance to monitor your children's spiritual growth as well as your spouse. If you're a lady, get your husband to look at this, if he will. Most of the time men are too proud to take advice, so, if you're a man reading this, well done for being willing to accept some advice! Your children will ask questions and say things at family altar that they will not say elsewhere; and this is the angle I'm taking for this post. It is first and foremost a time for the family to grow together, but why do we get together and study the word together? Doesn't church do that? Doesn't Sunday school do that? But let me provoke your thinking! Has it occurred to you that if we leave it to the church to feed our families, we are allowing the secondary institution to direct the primary? Shouldn't I be the other way around? Wasn't the home established first? The Bible says in Proverbs 27:23, "Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds." Yes, we have a shepherd called the pastor, but in the home daddy is the shepherd. And it's important that daddy knows the condition of the flock God gave him. You may say, "But we don't have children." Fine! Didn't Nathan refer to Bathsheba, Uriah the Hittite's wife, as a ewe lamb in his story to David? You are the shepherd of your wife husband! I want to share an incident that happened a few nights ago that I experienced that I hope will make clear what I'm trying to say. October has been a very busy month, and unfortunately, I have neglected our family altar because of the terrible strain of time in the Barnett home. But as I was finishing up my last thirty minutes of phone calling, Wilson came up to me and said, "Daddy, can we have devotions tonight?" If you find your child craving for the things of God, and it gets in the way of things you are craving, you'd better meet the need your child has, or Satan will take that opportunity faster than you could ever realize. We had devotions that night, and will continue to have them. Never have I been so rebuked by a 6-year-old. We started off by singing a song that we all know, and then began our study for that evening. As we studied on life that night, we discussed the need for eternal life, and the need that people have all around us to hear the gospel message. After our normal devotions where daddy reads the scripture passage, and mommy reads the challenge, we talked about people who needed prayer. Judson, who is currently in a speech therapy class at Vidant Hospital, raised his hand and said, "Pray for Ms Jane [not the therapist's real name], I don't think she knows about Jesus." Well, we asked him if he had ever said anything to her about him, and Judson, being 3, said, "I don't know what all to say!" We prayed for "Ms Jane" and when it came time for Judson to pray, he said, "Lord, I pray for Ms Jane, she needs to hear the gospel and get saved, and-and-and, I don't know how to tell her, please save Ms Jane." Now, I don't think Judson knows The Lord as his Savior yet, but neither did Samuel! Though he may not be saved, I still believe the Holy Spirit is working on him. When we finished praying, Marianne asked, "Judson, what is the gospel?" Judson replied, "It's the story of how Jesus died on the cross." Marianne then asked, "Why did Jesus die on the cross?" Judson responded, "For our sins." There are things that you will get to hear from your children at family altar that you will never hear anywhere else. So make sure you Fan the Flame and make time for family altar! You'll be amazed, and at the same time saddened at what you've been missing!
With this particular post, I want to share what happened one evening at the Barnett home that turned out to be one of the sweetest nights after I was greatly rebuked by a 6-year-old boy named Wilson.
There is nothing more sweet in this life than to see my children look forward to family devotions. If it wasn't for the eagerness of Wilson's heart to have family altar, I might have missed one of the sweetest opportunities to see that my children were growing spiritually. I want to first of all say that before you decide that family altar is a waste of time, or if you are getting slack with it...fan that flame that is going out! Move to a different place of the fire and take a different angle. Consider family altar as a chance to monitor your children's spiritual growth as well as your spouse. If you're a lady, get your husband to look at this, if he will. Most of the time men are too proud to take advice, so, if you're a man reading this, well done for being willing to accept some advice! Your children will ask questions and say things at family altar that they will not say elsewhere; and this is the angle I'm taking for this post. It is first and foremost a time for the family to grow together, but why do we get together and study the word together? Doesn't church do that? Doesn't Sunday school do that? But let me provoke your thinking! Has it occurred to you that if we leave it to the church to feed our families, we are allowing the secondary institution to direct the primary? Shouldn't I be the other way around? Wasn't the home established first? The Bible says in Proverbs 27:23, "Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds." Yes, we have a shepherd called the pastor, but in the home daddy is the shepherd. And it's important that daddy knows the condition of the flock God gave him. You may say, "But we don't have children." Fine! Didn't Nathan refer to Bathsheba, Uriah the Hittite's wife, as a ewe lamb in his story to David? You are the shepherd of your wife husband! I want to share an incident that happened a few nights ago that I experienced that I hope will make clear what I'm trying to say. October has been a very busy month, and unfortunately, I have neglected our family altar because of the terrible strain of time in the Barnett home. But as I was finishing up my last thirty minutes of phone calling, Wilson came up to me and said, "Daddy, can we have devotions tonight?" If you find your child craving for the things of God, and it gets in the way of things you are craving, you'd better meet the need your child has, or Satan will take that opportunity faster than you could ever realize. We had devotions that night, and will continue to have them. Never have I been so rebuked by a 6-year-old. We started off by singing a song that we all know, and then began our study for that evening. As we studied on life that night, we discussed the need for eternal life, and the need that people have all around us to hear the gospel message. After our normal devotions where daddy reads the scripture passage, and mommy reads the challenge, we talked about people who needed prayer. Judson, who is currently in a speech therapy class at Vidant Hospital, raised his hand and said, "Pray for Ms Jane [not the therapist's real name], I don't think she knows about Jesus." Well, we asked him if he had ever said anything to her about him, and Judson, being 3, said, "I don't know what all to say!" We prayed for "Ms Jane" and when it came time for Judson to pray, he said, "Lord, I pray for Ms Jane, she needs to hear the gospel and get saved, and-and-and, I don't know how to tell her, please save Ms Jane." Now, I don't think Judson knows The Lord as his Savior yet, but neither did Samuel! Though he may not be saved, I still believe the Holy Spirit is working on him. When we finished praying, Marianne asked, "Judson, what is the gospel?" Judson replied, "It's the story of how Jesus died on the cross." Marianne then asked, "Why did Jesus die on the cross?" Judson responded, "For our sins." There are things that you will get to hear from your children at family altar that you will never hear anywhere else. So make sure you Fan the Flame and make time for family altar! You'll be amazed, and at the same time saddened at what you've been missing!