Daily Devotional For Monday, September 22, 2025
Today we are going to the Old Testament to look at what God has to say to us. Here is what Deuteronomy 11:18-19 says, “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. (19) Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up” (NLT). The modern church has moved away from being the main center of children’s spiritual formation. Parents now rely on nursery and preschool workers, Children’s Church and youth workers to do this for their children.
Notice above that God holds the parents personally responsible to do this – not the church – the parents. The above passage says that parents have to take seriously the Word of God for their own lives as well as the lives of their children. This means as parents we must be in the Word daily and help our children develop a love for God’s word. We and our children live in a world full of false idols, demonic influence and cultural lies that are contrary to God’s word.
The context for this command by God originates from God as a command for obedience. Look at Deuteronomy 11:13, “If you carefully obey the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and soul” (NLT). There are 3 features in this verse for parents to parent: obedience, service and love. If our lives were nothing more than legalistic, meticulous, and rigorous obedience, life would be a pain and drudgery.
We obey God because we love Him and that love flows out in service for Him and to others. This means we can do the right thing for all the wrong reasons. There are Christians who “obey” the Lord in action, but not in attitude. They look at lost people living godless lives, and even though they would not do that, they either resent the restrictions for themselves or envy the freedom lost people seem to have.
This is not loving the Lord at all. Our obedience to the Lord comes from our love for the Lord and that causes deep joy. When we want to obey the Lord, not because of duty, but because we really want to obey the Lord, our hearts, lives and attitudes are flooded with joy. This brings us to the next feature: service. When we love the Lord and are obeying Him, this causes us to serve others, especially our children in their spiritual formation.
This means in our service we go out of our way to help someone. For example, you have a co-worker out of work because he/she is sick. You could serve that person by not only visiting, but bringing dinner. Maybe you have someone in your church that needs a temporary place to stay. So, you open up your home to them. Through the years here, Audrey and I have opened up our home to 4 different college boys who found themselves either in a financial situation where they could no longer afford an apartment or they wanted to keep their lives pure before they got married. It was an honor to do this for the Lord and for them.
Too many Christian parents prefer to give their time to all their children’s extra-curricular activities such as sports, dance, gymnastics, or school clubs. There is nothing wrong in parents being proud of their children’s activities and accomplishments. But when was the last time you heard a parent or grandparent talking about having conversations with their children or grandchildren for their spiritual formation? Too many parents today are more concerned for their children’s academic future than their adoration of the Lord. To them, church is just another add-on activity that they squeeze into their weekly schedule.
There are times as parents or grandparents we are just tired and worn out. As we age, we do not have the energy, stamina, the endurance nor the will at times to keep up at the pace that is demanded of us. When it comes to service, there are people in the church who will not serve and in their minds, they have all the legitimate excuses to justify their reluctance. A Christian who does not serve the Lord is like a Jesus who would not go to the cross. We serve out of love for a Savior who serves us and gave His life up for us in love.
Assignment: If you are a parent or a grandparent, how intentional are you to have conversations with your children or grandchildren about their relationship with the Lord? Do you help your children and/or grandchildren evaluate their own walk with the Lord? Do you affirm what you see is godly and do you correct what you see is ungodly? Are you serving somewhere in your local church or are you going expecting others to serve you? Commit to serve out of love for the Lord and His people.
Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 3:1, "My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart" (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Lord, help me to leave a spiritual legacy to my children and/or grandchildren. Please convict me to be intentional to invest in lives for the glory of God, His church and the lost. God, help me to put together a spiritual formation plan for my children and/or grandchildren. I love you Lord. In Jesus’ names, Amen!’’
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly