Shine His Light in your Home

It’s back to the normal routine for most of us, as the kids head back to school and the hubbies jump back into work. Hopefully you are settling into a good routine for 2010 and are well on the way to making this a great new year. I hope that you have set a few goals or resolutions for the coming year as you take positive steps forward in your home life as well as your work life (and for many of you that is one in the same). I want to encourage you to be deliberate about spiritual growth this year both for you and your kids, by reading God’s word and allowing it to permeate your lives.

A systematic approach to reading the Bible works best for most people. If you haven’t discovered the One Year Bible, I would recommend it highly. It has daily readings marked out from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. You simply open to Jan 11 and it has it all laid out for you. I’ve gone through the Bible many times using this approach. Last year I decided to only read the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs so I could really concentrate on these portions. This year I’ve taking the Old Testament day by day.

No matter what you have going on in life, when you take a little time to read God’s word each day it keeps you looking at things above. Reading the Bible not only reveals who God is, but also reminds us of His sovereignty and power in every area of life.
Growing in your knowledge of God’s Word is not only important for you as a mom, but it is important for your children to become familiar with the Bible at an early age. In the busy schedule of a family’s life, sometimes this very important part of our children’s life can be neglected. I encourage you to find an age appropriate Bible for your kids and make a practice for reading it every day with them. I used to read The Beginners Bible (By Kelly Pulley, Zonderkidz) with my kids when they were young. Bedtime is the perfect time to read them a story. I know it is easy to think, but isn’t that what churches are supposed to do? Certainly we hope the church is teaching our kids bits and pieces of God’s word, but I believe it is our job as parents to teach our kids about the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 tells of the charge God gave to the Israelites and it still applies today. 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Let’s be intentional to follow this charge! This week I had coffee with one of my friends, Sonja Samuels. She is working with Scripture Union, a ministry committed to helping people get to know the Bible more intimately. They offer wonderful, colorful materials starting with children’s guides all the way to adults. Their motto is “Helping people meet God every day.” If you want to know more about their excellent materials contact my friend Sonja at sonjas@scriptureunion.org
By the way, Sonja will be speaking at the Ready to Win conference in Grapevine on Jan 18. I’ll be the emcee and I hope you will join us for this fantastic event! Go to www.ThelmaWells.com to register. See you there!