Sharpening My Arrows
This morning’s Bible Reading from my daily devotional was a passage from Judges, and it made me think about parenting and whether or not I’m faithfully teaching my children all that Jesus has instructed us.
Here’s the passage…
Judges 2:6–8, 10-14
When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years… And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.
The sentence that I have highlighted in bold tells us where things got off-track for ancient Israel after they became a nation — a generation arose that did not know God.
It was interesting to read that passage this morning because I was listening to a sermon by John Mark Comer yesterday entitled, What is the Gospel?, and in that sermon he makes the comment that Christians are always one generation away from being extinct. Basically, if we do not faithfully proclaim the gospel of God’s kingdom and pass down the faith that has been entrusted to us, then a generation will arise that does not know God or the work that he has done for us through Jesus.
As I was meditating on this passage this morning and recalling Comer’s comment, I immediately began to think about what Moses instructed the Israelites right before they entered into the land that God had given them. And it’s worth noting that Moses is saying these things to Joshua’s generation at the time…
Deuteronomy 6:1–7
“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 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.”
It seems that Joshua’s generation failed to do this. They failed to diligently teach their children who God was and what he had done for them.
And so, this morning the Holy Spirit has reminded me of this responsibility that I have as a father of four children.
Am I diligently teaching my children who God is and what he has done for us through Jesus?
I think I’ve let some things slip since the start of the new school year and a season of fall sports. Time to get back on track.
By the way, that word diligently is the same Hebrew word that is used for sharpening an arrow. Which immediately makes me think of how the psalmist describes children as arrows in the hand of a warrior (Psalm 127).
I think I get the message… a true warrior and faithful father sharpens his arrows.
Here are a few of my favorite resources for teaching my children:
