Duty of Parents to Children

Your children have souls, and they must be born again by God, or they will perish. And also understand, that unless you are very prudent in your behavior to and before them, they may perish because of you: the thoughts of which should provoke you, both to instruct, and also to correct them.

First, to instruct them as the Scripture says, “bringing them up in the training and instruction of the Lord;” “Impress [the truths of the Word of God] on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” [Ephesians 6:4; Deuteronomy 6:7]

John Bunyan, Christian Family

Proverbs 1:8-9

Last night Nathaniel perfectly recited Proverbs 1:8-9 (NKJV)

Cares of this world

Many Christians live and work in this world, as if their Christianity was a low priority in life, and this world and its pleasures were all important; when indeed the things of this world are fleeting and Christianity is the one thing we need most [Luke 10:40-42].

John Bunyan, Christian Family

John Bunyan on the duty of the head of the family

1. First, concerning the spiritual state of his family; he ought to be very diligent and cautious, doing his utmost both to increase faith where it is begun, and to begin it where it is not. Therefore, he must diligently and frequently bring before his family the things of God, from His Holy Word, in accordance with what is suitable for each person. And let no man question his authority from the Word of God for such a practice; for the Apostle Paul strongly advises us that “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things,” in other words, be sure to do them. [Philippians 4:8]

John Bunyan, Christian Family

Laboring Over the Gospel

The other day I took the time to give a thorough explanation of the entire gospel message to our oldest son. To the best of my ability I used language that he is hopefully able to understand. Because he's still quite young I often wonder just how much he knows and how much he connects the dots. I took great pains using verses that he has learned to explain to him that Jesus is God. I reminded him of our reading through Genesis and the creation story of Adam and Eve who had only a single, simple law that they were unable to keep and brought sin upon the whole human race as a result. I pointed out to him that he himself is also a sinner and gave evidence to him from that very day by reminding him of the law that has been given to him to obey his parents. I discussed that this sin creates a massive problem because God expects perfection. I pointed out in Leviticus that the animal sacrifices that the Israelites were to bring to God were to be perfect and completely unblemished and that God would not accept anything less. I labored over the fact that Jesus is both God and man who kept every law perfectly and did not have any sin in himself and could thereby be the most perfect and final sacrifice and that the sacrifices in the Old Testament were only a type of the ultimate sacrifice that was still to come at that time in Christ. I made specific mention of the fact that in order to deal with this problem of sin in us that something had to die to pay the penalty (since the penalty of sin is death) and that Jesus, as God, did in fact die and that his obedience even unto death is both sufficient and acceptable to God to deal with this problem and fulfill God's righteous requirement. We covered the fact that not only did Jesus, God the Son, die, but that he also rose again and is also even now living and reunited in heaven with God the Father. Finally, I stated that only those that believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ could be saved and that that too included his own need to believe.

Right now the soil is fertile. We earnestly pray that the seeds take root.

Finishing Leviticus

Tonight we finished reading through the Old Testament book of Leviticus. Now on to Numbers!

Proverbs 4:1-2

Earlier this evening Nathaniel quoted Proverbs 4:1-2 (NKJV) without stumbling over any words.

John 14:6

Tonight Ian correctly quoted John 14:6 (NKJV) without any help!

Nice Large Print Family Reading Bible

The first Bible I began using during our family reading and devotion time was an inexpensive giant print Bible that I had purchased for less than $15 and had previously used for carrying to church for a couple of years.  It has been a great Bible - especially for the price - but after a few years of regular use I could tell it was not going to hold out forever.  After getting an unexpected bonus at work I decided it would be nice to get a new quality Bible for family use.

Recently I purchased an ESV large print Bible in black calfskin for just this purpose. It is the most expensive Bible I will likely ever purchase but since it will receive daily/regular use it is well worth it. Crossway also makes a nice large print pew edition for a very economical price that I had also considered.  Had I not had the bonus money to help out I probably would've ended up with this version and don't think I would feel like I was missing out.  Since the page numbers and text layout are exactly the same between the large print pew edition and the premium edition that I now own I may even end up getting a copy of the pew version later on.

Crimson stains

We have been singing "Jesus Paid It All" this month as our hymn of the month. The other day we also ate beets with our evening meal and at one point accidentally spilled some of the juice on a place mat. Later that night I used the stained place mat as an example of what a "crimson stain" was like. It is also interesting to note that we also have snow outside right now. I think the boys have a slightly clearer picture of the meaning of the words to this hymn's chorus now.

I tried to explain to them how utterly impossible it would be to fully remove the small beet juice stain from the white of this place mat and that no matter how much you washed it you could still always see the evidence of a stain there. Yet what Christ has done for us is to take the whole of the stain of sin and make it even whiter than glistening snow through his completed and finished work of obedience to death on the cross.

I'm still not sure how clear that picture is to them yet, but it was an apt example that made a great object lesson.

Chorus:

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Hymn of the Month: February 2010

JESUS PAID IT ALL

Author: Elvina M. Hall, 1865

1. I hear the Savior say,
"Thy stength indeed is small,
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all."

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

2. Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow'r and Thine alone,
Can change the leper's spots
And melt the heart of stone.

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

3. For nothing good have I
Where-by Thy grace to claim;
I'll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv'ry's Lamb.

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

4. And when, before the throne,
I stand in Him complete,
"Jesus died my soul to save,"
My lips shall still repeat.

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.