Tag Archives: parents

Don’t give up, July 29, 2019

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

I read the headlines and was appalled. A mother drowns her kids. Another reads, “Father kills mother while children watch, then shoots three children. And another, “Parents cage two children for three years before discovered.”

How does this happen? What kind of people can perform these atrocities to innocent children?

This morning I read the lectionary readings that will be associated with this week’s podcast and heard Jesus’ words regarding prayer. His disciples asked him to teach them to pray. Luke recorded a version of that now famous prayer that many rattle off their tongues without even thinking about it. We often refer to it as the Lord’s prayer, but it is really the disciples’ prayer. It’s the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray.

But after that prayer, Jesus told about the necessity to maintain our vigilance in prayer. When we want something from God, we need to continue to ask. Be persistent, he says. In Luke chapter 11, verses 9 and 10, he says, “So listen: Keep on asking, and you will receive. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened for you. All who keep asking will receive, all who keep seeking will find, and doors will open to those who keep knocking.”

That tells me we should not give up on our prayers. God’s word gives us plenty of examples of godly men and women who prayed for long periods of time before they received answers to their requests. Abraham’s peers were great-grandfathers before he had his promised son. Joseph languished in prison before he became the second highest authority in Egypt. Paul prayed for an unknown thorn in his flesh to be removed, something we’re not sure what that thorn was, and God never removed it, but only told him after long supplication that he would receive grace to bear it.

Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.

There is another point of wisdom in these words that wanes in our society today. We give up on almost everything. My grandkids really excel in many areas. I have to brag on them. But once in a while, they will grab a new project, struggle with it a while and want to quit because it’s hard. Fortunately, they have a mom and dad that won’t let them quit something just because it’s hard.

If it’s something that is well beyond their capability, that is different. If it’s dangerous or could cause significant damage, that’s different. But often, they will just give a tiny bit of guidance and let their kids learn how to handle hard things. Sometimes they fail the first few times at a task. But they get better through those early failures and learn to become very good through the tutelage of their parents and other adults. It might be hard, but they grow because of it.

When we stop because it’s hard or it didn’t happen the first time, we miss great opportunities. We lose because we fail to recognize the success in learning from mistakes. It’s the problem many young people face when “helicopter” parent bail kids out of every failure and make everything right regardless of the circumstances. Sometimes, it’s good for us to feel the consequences of our failure. We learn from those instances. We figure out how to succeed when we must endure the pain and suffering that comes from our mistakes.

You’ve probably heard the quote from Thomas Edison’s interview about his first failures in creating his electric lightbulb. He said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

I also find his observation, “We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

How much could we accomplish if we just got at it and didn’t give up? What could we do if we just stuck to it and continued to try until we did something. Instead we get tired, feel bad about ourselves for not becoming the next Rockafeller at the age of 20, and just sit on the couch playing video games instead. I sometimes wonder how we became known as the land of opportunity unless it’s now because we give up on everything and anyone who joins us has the opportunity to do all the things we give up trying.

Life is hard. Life is filled with failure and disappointment. We cannot nor should not win every time. Everyone should not get a trophy. We don’t learn as much through winning as we do through losing. In failing is really where we build our character.

We learn grace. We learn how to pick ourselves back up and how to start over. We learn that not being at the top is okay. We learn we can survive, begin again, lean on a friend. We learn we are not alone because no one wins every time.

Jesus says don’t stop. Don’t quit. Keep at it. Don’t give up. It’s a lesson we need to learn today.

He goes on to indict us as a society in what I mentioned as I began this podcast. Do you remember those headlines? In the next verses, Jesus asks what should have been some rhetorical questions. In verses 11 through 13 he says, “Some of you are fathers, so ask yourselves this: if your son comes up to you and asks for a fish for dinner, will you give him a snake instead? If your boy wants an egg to eat, will you give him a scorpion? Look, all of you are flawed in so many ways, yet in spite of all your faults, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to all who ask!”

Today, however, too many of our children grow up in fatherless homes. They don’t know what a father should be. They don’t have any idea how a loving father acts. Our kids are abandoned physically or emotionally as fathers relinquish their responsibilities as the head of the house and act like kids themselves without thought of what they do to the next generation. And the problem in the United States is that this has now gone on for two or three generations, so often, kids can’t find role models from grandfathers or even great-grandfathers in their families.

What are we to do to fix the problem? How are we to help this newest generation understand what it means to be a loving father or mother? How do we demonstrate solid family relationships when almost every family across the country feels the pain of broken homes? The only source for a solid role model is God. Our heavenly Father is the only perfect father. Scripture uses our earthly father as a model to help describe him, but the tables have turned.

I think for us to now understand who we should be as fathers and mothers, we must look to scripture and examine the life of Jesus and how he describes his Father in heaven to understand how we should build our relationships within our families and with those around us. We have so warped our roles as parents through neglecting what parenthood should be through generations of misguided relationships, that we no longer know what it means to be families.

It’s time we look to the source of relationships and marriage and families to find what these institutions should look like. We need to go to God who created us and the foundation of the family by putting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with the command to populate the world, instituting what we know as a marriage relationship.

It’s time we look at the good and bad fathers and mothers in scripture. We should see the consequences of the bad behavior and try our best to avoid repeating those mistakes. We should learn from the good behavior and try our best to emulate it.

God will help us learn what we should know as good fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, if we will listen to him. He will also help us recover from our failures if we will not give up, but will pick ourselves up, ask forgiveness for our failures and our sins, and try again. He will help us through those rough places. He will give us the strength to endure.

God can and will give us the courage to journey through this life as the people he would have us be. But we must put our trust in him if we hope to succeed. That doesn’t mean we will be wealthy. It does mean we will be rich. Our riches will come from the legacy of peace he promised as we follow his commands, do his will, learn his ways, and keep them.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the ene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Long Lost Family, February 26, 2018

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 23; You Version Bible app Engaging God’s Story Reading Plan Days 155 through 161

I read an article a few days ago that TLC plans to air a new TV show called Long Lost Family soon. It is similar to others that have aired in the past on other channels. It aims to connect adult adopted children with their biological parents. It is a quest that often ends with pretty emotional meetings when parents, particularly mothers, finally see their grown children after many years of separation.

I have talked with many who have been adopted through the years and the vast majority always refer to their adoptive parents as their mom and dad. They see them as the ones who chose them, provided for them, raised them, gave them their moral values. They recognize their adoptive parents as parents as much as those of us who have not been adopted recognize our parents as mom and dad.

But I’ve also seen in many of those adopted adults a small nagging in their minds wondering just who they are. What is their biological lineage? What were the circumstances that caused a mother to give them up? Most often it was because their biological mother just could not provide a safe, warm, loving home for them at the time. The mother realized that life for their child would end as a struggle for survival in the circumstances into which he or she were born. So they made one of the toughest decisions of their life and gave up their son or daughter doing what they felt in the child’s best interest, not their own.

Adopted children always have unanswered questions. Some of those questions will follow them and never be answered. Programs like Long Lost Family fascinate us as we see the investigative tools and the raw emotion that springs from those meetings. We wonder what it must be like to finally know who we are.

We ask ourselves that question sometimes. Not about our birth heritage, but in a greater sense as part of humanity. Who are we? What is our place in this vast universe? Why are we here? What is our purpose in life and particularly at this time and place?

Jesus never had those questions about himself. He knew. And the day John baptized him, God himself announced to the rest of the world just who Jesus was. From out of the heavens came a voice that boomed like thunder, “This is my son, in him I am well pleased.”

With those words, Jesus’ ministry began. He soon went to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan who tried to play on his humanity and question God’s announcement that Jesus was his son.

“You haven’t eaten in 40 days, you must be hungry. If you’re the Son of God, turn these stones to bread and eat.”

“Scripture says if you’re the Son of God, angels will come to your aid. Jump off this pinnacle and let’s see if they will catch you.”

“Your title is King of kings, so kneel to me and I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the earth if you really are the Son of God.”

But with each twisted half truth Satan sent his way, Jesus answered with scripture. You need God’s word to get you through life, not just bread. Go away. God said don’t test him. He’s not a puppet to play with. Go away. Worship only God. Besides, my kingdom is not of this world. Go away. The temptations were real. Shortcuts to the end of the mission God had in store for his Son. The humanity in Jesus didn’t want the suffering any more than you or I would want the suffering. But he also knew the cross was the only way through to our salvation.

He knew who he was. Through the rest of Jesus’ life, that was the question all who came in contact with him had to answer, though. Who do you think I am? It springs from the most memorized verse in the Bible. John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

It’s the question Nicodemus asked that prompted those words from Jesus. Who are you? Are you the Messiah, God’s Son? The disciples had to answer that question and at one time Jesus asked them pretty bluntly, “Who do you think I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Peter also said others thought he was Elijah come back to life, Others thought him a prophet. Others thought him a demon.

The question must be answered by each individual because the answer to that question is one of life or death. Who do you say he is? Do you believe Jesus is who he said he was or do you think he was just a historical figure that did good things? Was he just a man or the Son of God? Can he forgive sins as he says or a charlatan as many of the Pharisees claimed?

Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God, who died for your sins, who rose again, who sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us? That most memorized verse followed by the next two tells us how important what we believe is to each of us. Do you remember the rest of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus?

Here’s how the rest of those verses in John 3 go: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

That last verse tells me Jesus is not one of many ways to heaven as some might want to believe, but Jesus is the only way. He didn’t come to condemn us. We do that to ourselves. He came to save us. But we have one responsibility in that process. We must believe he is who he says he is. Believing, though, means doing what he says. Living like you mean it. Following him. It’s not just words, it’s action. Remember, he will tell those around him later that even the devil believes in him, but the devil won’t find his way to heaven because he won’t yield his life to God.

The Long Lost Family. Not in God’s kingdom. All it takes is believing Jesus is who he says he is. Following him. You won’t be lost any more. There will be one glorious reunion like you’ve never seen before.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Music exit

Big brother gives commands (John 8:25-26), February 22, 2017

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Did your mom ever send your brother or sister to tell you to do something? How did you like it? That just how some people felt when Jesus came around.
Scripture
1. John 8:25-26

“Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”

Devotional
1. My daughter doesn’t do it very often, but every once in awhile, she sends her oldest child to tell her younger ones to do something. “Jonathon, go tell Grayson to put on her shoes so we can go.”
  1. Doesn’t do it often because of the backlash
  2. Youngest doesn’t like to be told by the oldest
  3. Both are her children
  4. Grayson feels like an equal
  5. Doesn’t want to hear from anyone but her mother
  6. Certainly doesn’t think Jonathon should tell her what to do
2. Many of those who heard Jesus looked at Him the same way
  1. He’s just a man
  2. He’s the same as us
  3. Born of a woman, eats and drinks and breathes like us
  4. Who does He think He is telling us what to do
3. Just like Jonathon gets yelled at by his sister when he passes on a command from his mother, Jesus wasn’t liked by those with whom He shared the Father’s commands
  1. He only passed on what the Father told Him to share
  2. His words were those of the Father and His commands were those of the Father
  3. Until people believed He truly was the Son of God, He was just another man trying to tell them what to do and they didn’t want to listen anymore than a younger child wants to listen to what an older child passes on from his mother
4. We can begin to see some of the danger involved in the dynamics that played out around Jesus during His time on earth as we put ourselves back in His time and in that place. We can be obstinate and raise the hackles on the back of our neck and refuse to believe the Father spoke through Him. We can refuse to believe Jesus is God incarnate who gave Himself for us. We can refuse to trust Him and so suffer the wrath of the Father because of our disobedience. Or we can be obedient children and understand that God sent His Son, Jesus to tell save us from ourselves.
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The good and bad in a twelve year old (Luke 2:49) September 18, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Philemon

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 2:49
Jesus: Why did you need to look for Me? Didn’t you know that I must be working for My Father?

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We’ve moved into the gospel of Luke today. The only gospel that has any mention of Jesus’ childhood beyond His birth, the family’s escape to Egypt, and return to Nazareth. All the other gospels pick up His life’s story with His baptism at the Jordan River by His cousin John the Baptist. But Luke, Paul’s physician companion on his missionary journeys gives this brief snippet into Jesus’ childhood just as He is reaching the age of accountability according to Jewish tradition.

Jesus is twelve. He accompanies His family to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. That was a five day journey for them when the roads weren’t terribly crowded and the weather was pretty good. It’s about 120 miles on foot. And that was how they traveled. On foot. Like most twelve year old boys, He probably ran ahead and played with friends or explored some interesting find on the path while His parents caught up, then ran ahead again throughout the five day journey. With all the pilgrims keeping an eye on all the children at play on the road, parents didn’t worry much about their kids getting lost. They just had them check back every once in a while to make sure they stayed relatively close and safe. He acted like a twelve year old on a five day trek.

But then He saw the temple during the Passover. It probably wasn’t His first time, but for some reason we don’t know, Jesus was invited into the circle of scribes on this occasion. And as He listened to them, He was allowed to make comments. Now that was really unusual. He was only twelve, not yet of age to be heard. But these scribes listened to His opinions because Jesus had wisdom well beyond His years. They were amazed at this young man’s understanding.

Jesus’ family left for the journey home, but instead of leaving with them, He slipped back into the temple and the circle of scribes. Something about this place drew Him close. The scriptures acted like a magnet to Him and the men who surrounded Him welcomed Him because of the things He said. They listened to His thoughts as if He were a seasoned rabbi. Soon, Jesus forgot His family was leaving town and He missed their departure.

Surprising to us, it was three days before Mary and Joseph discovered Jesus’ absence. But remember that almost all of Nazareth would have traveled to Jerusalem for Passover. As many as could, went to Jerusalem for the three great feasts God told Moses to present to the Israelites in the desert – Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Mary and Joseph would have made as many of these feasts in Jerusalem as possible. The city burst at the seams with people. It was a time for family reunions and reuniting with old friends. With that many people coming together, Mary and Joseph would easily assume Jesus was with His cousins and aunts and uncles as they traveled.

Finally, Mary and Joseph figured out Jesus was not in the entourage and headed back to Jerusalem frantically searching for their missing son. But as they made inquiries and their search led them back to the temple, there He was confounding the teachers of the law with His amazing understanding of the scriptures at such a young age.

No doubt Jesus was in trouble for the worry He caused. No doubt He didn’t get to run ahead or play with His friends on the rest of the journey home. I expect if they could have done so without raising too many eyebrows, they would have put a lasso around Him and kept Him tied to one of them. So the lesson in these scriptures is not to run away from your parents. That’s not a good thing. Even for Jesus, that was not a good thing. He probably got some fairly hefty punishment for the scare He caused and His failure to leave with the family, even though He was doing something very good at the time. He really needed to tell His parents what He was doing before He scared them to death.

But the other thing we learn from today’s words is that scripture was important to Jesus from a very early age. Remember we closed the book of Mark talking about just how important scripture was to Jesus. We talked about the fact that many of His last words on the cross came from Old Testament Psalms. How was He able to recite those verses under such extreme duress? Because from the age of twelve, whenever you couldn’t find Jesus, just look in the temple or the synagogue or with a group of rabbis or scribes. You’d find Him learning scripture. You find Him reading the ancient texts, learning the prayers of David and Isaiah and Daniel and Moses.

Jesus was a student of His Father’s words as handed down through the writers of our Old Testament. He used them often in His preaching and teaching, in His confrontations with Satan and his minions, in His times of greatest joy and deepest sorrow, and even on the cross. If scripture was so important to Jesus, the perfect Son of God, don’t you think it should be important to those of us who are so imperfect? Pick it and read it today and every day. It will do you good.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Train up a child…(Judges 13), Apr 2, 2015

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Judges 13
Set – Judges 13; 2 Corinthians 2
Go! – Judges 13-16; 2 Corinthians 2

Judges 13
¹ Once again, though, the Israelites did evil according to the Eternal God, and He gave the Philistines power over them for 40 years. ² During that time, a man of Zorah named Manoah, from the tribe of Dan, was married to a wife who could bear him no children.

Messenger of the Eternal One (appearing to Manoah’s wife): ³ You are barren and have no children, but all of that is about to change. You will conceive and have a son. ⁴ Be careful that you don’t drink wine or any other spirits (strong drink), and don’t eat anything that is ritually impure, ⁵ for you are going to become pregnant and have a son. Don’t ever use a razor on his head, because you will raise this boy as a Nazirite, dedicated to the True God from his conception, and he will be the one to begin delivering Israel from the Philistines.

Manoah’s Wife (to her husband): ⁶ A man of the True God visited me. He looked like a messenger of God, awe-inspiring. I didn’t ask where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name, ⁷ but he told me that I was going to become pregnant and bear a son. He told me not to drink wine or other spirits or to eat anything ritually unclean because our boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart for God from the day he is conceived until the day he dies.

Manoah (to the Lord): ⁸ Eternal One, please let the man of God whom you sent visit us again and teach us what to do with the boy You are giving us.

⁹ The True God heard Manoah and sent His messenger to visit the woman one day while she was in the fields. Manoah was not with her, ¹⁰ so she ran to tell him.

Manoah’s Wife: Look, the man who spoke to me the other day is here again!

¹¹ Manoah got up, followed his wife, and came to where the man was.

Manoah (to the messenger): Are you the one who spoke to my wife the other day?

Messenger of the Eternal One: I am.

Manoah: ¹² When your words come true, what rules should we apply to the boy? What is his mission in life?

Messenger of the Eternal One: ¹³ Your wife should do as I told her on my first visit. ¹⁴ She must not eat or drink of the vine, she must not drink any other strong drink, and she must not eat foods that are ritually impure. She must do all that I have commanded.

Manoah: ¹⁵ If you will wait, we would like to prepare a young goat for you to eat.

Messenger of the Eternal One: ¹⁶ Even if you try to detain me, I will not eat your food. If you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Eternal.

Manoah had not realized that he was speaking to the Eternal’s messenger. ¹⁷ That is why he asked the Eternal’s messenger a question.

Manoah: What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words become truth?

Messenger of the Eternal One: ¹⁸ Why do you ask my name? It is incomprehensible, beyond human understanding.

¹⁹ Manoah took the young goat, together with the offering of grain, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Eternal, to the wonder-working God. While Manoah and his wife watched ²⁰ the flame going up toward heaven from the altar, the Eternal’s messenger rose up to heaven in the flames, and Manoah and his wife put their faces to the ground. ²¹ When he did not reappear, Manoah realized that they had seen the Eternal’s messenger.

Manoah (to his wife): ²² We are most certainly going to die, for we have seen the True God!

Manoah’s Wife: ²³ If the Eternal had desired to kill us, then He would not have accepted the grain and burnt offerings from us or shown us these wonders or brought these announcements at this time.

²⁴ In due time, the woman did bear a son, and she named him Samson. The boy grew, the Eternal God blessed him, ²⁵ and the Spirit of the Eternal One began to move in him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

One of the things I want you to understand as parents is your responsibility to raise your children in the way they should go. I tell you in My word they will not depart from it. But I must also tell you that each individual still has a choice. Samson is a good example of My rule. He eventually came back to Me and served Me well, but fell away from Me for a while because of the choices he made in his young life.

His parents started out well in their training, raising him under the strict traditions of a Nazarite, but as he got interested in women, it became evident that Samson’s strength overawed his parents and they let him get by with more than they should. Even though Samson might have been able to overpower them physically, they were still his parents and had responsibility to advise him and show him the right ways to live.

Perhaps if they had forbidden some of his early exploits and given him the reason why, Samson would not have strayed when he became a young man as far as he did. But they let him indulge in areas Manoah and his wife knew would entice him toward ways apart from God and Samson later found himself ensnared by the pagan Philistines not knowing I was no longer with him.

Some of the other parents probably thought Manoah and his wife were too strict on Samson holding him to the Nazarite vows. But others didn’t know the plans I had for Samson. Besides, since when should parents listen to the world for advice on how to raise their children? That’s part of the problem with the world today. My word give the best advice for rearing children, not the world.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Teach your children! (Deuteronomy 4:1-14), Mar 6, 2015

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Deuteronomy 4: 1-14
Set – Deuteronomy 4: Psalms 36; Mark 13
Go! – Deuteronomy 3-4; Psalms 36; Mark 13

Deuteronomy 4: 1-14
Moses: ¹So now, Israel, pay close attention to the laws and judgments I’m going to teach you. If you follow them, you’ll enter and live in the land the Eternal, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You’ll conquer it, and it will become your territory. ² Don’t add anything to what I command you, and don’t take away anything from it; just follow the commands of the Eternal your God that I’m giving you now.

³ You saw with your own eyes what the Eternal did about your immorality at Baal-peor, the mountain-god. When some of you followed after the Baal god, the Eternal your God killed them right in front of you—not one of them survived! ⁴ But all of you who remained loyal to the Eternal your God are still alive today. ⁵ So pay attention—I’m teaching you the rules and judgments the Eternal my God has given me for you. You’re to follow them when you enter the land and settle there. ⁶ If you obey them carefully, all the nations around you will marvel at your wisdom and understanding. They’ll hear about these rules and say, “This is a great nation—its people are so wise and understanding!” ⁷ Indeed, what other nation is so great that it has a god that compares to the Eternal our God as He is near to us whenever we call on Him? ⁸ What other nation is so great that it has rules and judgments as just as the ones contained in this whole law I’m presenting to you today?

Moses: ⁹ So watch what you do! Be careful with your very life! Don’t forget the things you saw with your own eyes, and don’t let them fade from your memory. Remember them your whole life; teach them to your children and your grandchildren. ¹⁰ Remember the day you stood before the Eternal, your True God, at Horeb when He called you to come close. He told me, “Bring all the people to Me. I want them to hear My words, so that they will learn to fear Me as long as they live on this earth and will teach their children to do the same.” ¹¹ You all came and stood at the foot of the mountain. It blazed with fire all the way up into the sky while dark clouds and mist obscured your view. ¹² Then the Eternal spoke to you from inside that fire. You heard His voice, you heard His words, but you didn’t see His shape—you only heard a voice. ¹³ He told you what to do to keep the covenant He made with you. He gave you the Ten Directives and engraved two copies of them on two stone tablets. ¹⁴ The Eternal commanded me at that time to teach you the rules and judgments that make up the law He wants you to follow in the land where you’re going to live when you cross the Jordan.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

In these few verses, Moses tells My children to remember the laws I gave them and to teach them to their children at least twice. He will give that same directive many times in this last discourse before I take him. Teach your children. Part of the problem with today’s society is you forgot this major principle. Teach your children.

Today, parents abdicate their responsibility to teach their children. Now the schools do it, or so they think. The churches do it, or so mom and dad assume. Day care surely teaches kids something during the nine hours a day they have the kids, right? Today, parents spend much more time with their smartphones, iPads, and computers than with their kids, so who is teaching them. And if the parents aren’t teaching them, how do they know what they’re learning?

Moses told those listening to him that day to be careful with their life. I think you are more careful with you cars today than you are with your life. Technology has become a substitute for parental responsibility. You leave your kids in front of the television or in the hands of the Wii or X-Box letting the morality of those devices determine what they believe instead of instilling in them the values your parents gave you at the dinner table, hopefully.

I find the world in a tragic situation, now. It can’t go on much longer. Kids need guidance or they’ll find their way and it won’t be a good one. Remember My word? It says humankind’s hearts dwell on evil continually. Only when changed by the power of My Spirit living within you can you hope to get away from the continual draw of evil on your life. But it is best to learn those things at a young age and never have to suffer the physical and emotional consequences that come with some of the evil decisions that so many make today. The best way to learn them at a young age is to learn them from your parents.

What has happened today? The family, parental responsibility, reliance upon grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to share common values has all but disappeared because a couple of generations now failed to teach their children My ways, My laws. Until parents begin to be parents again instead of just progenitors the problem will increase. Until parents take responsibility for teaching their children My laws, the true, long-lasting values of life that will lead you into the next life, families will continue to degrade and society will continue to fall into greater disarray and dissolution.

Go back to what I told Moses and he shared with the Israelites. “So watch what you do! Be careful with your very life! Don’t forget the things you saw with your own eyes, and don’t let them fade from your memory. Remember them your whole life; teach them to your children and your grandchildren.” You’ll go a long way to curing the ills of society that people complain about so much if you’ll just follow what Moses said to do.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.