Joyfully Following God Through Family Devotions

Those who find their delight and joy in God through His Son, Jesus Christ, and so seek to love Him with all they have and others also as themselves, will want to help as many people as possible trust Christ as Savior and also grow in His grace. This was much of our focus in Sunday’s message out of Colossians 1:24-27.

How does this translate into our family? If a Christian parent has children, somewhere along the line it should dawn on him or her that their children are some of the key disciples God has brought to them. How can we carry out this important ministry? 

Terry Johnson, senior minister at Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia, wrote a book in 2003 titled Family Worship Book. In the most recent issue of Modern Reformation (November-December 2012), an excerpt from this book reminded us just how much impact we have upon sons and daughters in the typical amount of eighteen years they are with us. Consider this as a motivation for taking up the challenge to lead our family in family devotions.

If your children are in your home for 18 years, you have over 5,600 occasions (figuring a 6-day week) for family [devotions]. If you learn a new psalm or hymn each month, they will be exposed to 216 in those 18 years. If you read a chapter a day, you will complete the Bible 4.5 times in 18 years…. Every day they [will] intercede on behalf of others. Think in terms of the long view. What is the cumulative impact of just 15 minutes of this each day, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, for 18 years? At the rate of 6 days a week (excluding Sunday), one spends an hour and a half a week in family worship (about the length of a home Bible Study), 78 hours a year (about the length of two weekend retreats), and 1,404 hours over the course of 18 years (about the length of eight week-long summer camps). When you establish your priorities, think in terms of the cumulative effect of this upon you, after 40 or 60 or 80 years of daily family worship: All this without having to drive anywhere.

You may not have eighteen years left, but it is never too late to start.