A good read. Particularly poignant for me was the end. In a passing reference Abraham Piper talks about how he is telling Bible stories to his two-year old son.
“The stories in the Bible–from the least important to the most important–show us who God is. The less our kids know about this book, the easier it will be for them to ignore God, because they won’t recognize him. And the more they know about it, the more likely they will walk with him, because they will have seen the great things that a God like him can do.”
As I have read and listened to much from John Piper (Abraham’s father) on the subject of parenting and, particularly, fathering, it was wonderful to see the circle come back around as his son Abraham starts early, taking his son into the stories and glories of God in the Scriptures.
This post is not simply for our young fathers who may be reading but, again, for anyone who takes seriously the corporate call given to God’s covenant people to teach the next generation. Do you ever take people’s kids out? Have you ever taught for children’s church? Be intentional about the deposits you make.
Recently I heard a message from Mike Bullmore in which he vividly recalled how, as a very young boy, his Sunday school teacher stopped him on the way out of class and said, “I want to leave you with a promise that you can hold onto for the rest of your life.” She opened his hand and closing one finger at a time she said 5 words, “I-will-never-leave-you.” He never forgot it. In fact, he used the same idea with his children with a gospel variation, “Christ-died-for-my-sins”. One of the simplest yet richest lessons of his life came out of a 15 second moment on the way out of Sunday school. Wow. Think about that and may it lead you to make similarly simple yet potentially lifelong investments in the next gen, and Lord willing, in your own children one day.
