And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deuteronomy 6:6-7

My appreciation to Scott Holtgrieve for supplying the article which forms the basis of this devotion.

Although I haven't read "Dear Abby" for a while, I was interested when Scott Holtgrieve forwarded Abby's column to me last week.

The article focused on what an agnostic parent should say to a child who was asking questions about God.

There were a number of answers suggested. One parent said parents should compromise and let the little ones get a "sampling" of religions. Another said the agnostic parent should be supportive of the Christian parent and thereby teach openness. One more person said faith is a personal matter and should be taught as such.

All in all, the agnostics showed themselves to be open and supportive of their children no matter what they believed or didn't believe. That is the attitude I would expect from an individual who holds that we don't really know about God, and we can't be sure.

What frightened me were the Christians who seemed to have a similar laissez-faire attitude that they would be open to whatever influences seemed to capture their children's attention.
It sounds so good on paper, so sophisticated, so open.

Amazingly, I've never seen parents express such openness in other things. They don't have such a cavalier attitude when it comes to their little ones playing in traffic, or handling firearms, or taking medicine or, well, you get the idea.

I wish they got the idea, too. Understand, we don't want to twist anyone's arms or nag or use scare tactics, but we do need to live a life that will say God's will is important and His Son's gift of life is incredibly valuable and eternally important.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, in sending Jesus to offer Himself as our Substitute and winning our salvation, You have given us a one-of-a-kind Gift. May we be given the ability to share the wonders of His grace with those whom You have placed into our care. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: 1 Samuel 10-12    Luke 19:1-27

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