"Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up." ~ Deuteronomy 6:4-7
This email was forwarded to me from a lady by the name of Sharon Bridwell. I thought it was wonderful and wanted to share it:
Today in Sunday school we talked about the 10/40 window—that geographical part of the world that is least evangelized. Well, the Gospel is going forth with nearly 5 % of the population coming to Christ. And the emphasis will continue their geographically. And we will continue to pray for a greater number to hear and respond to the Gospel in those countries.
But have you heard of the 4/14 window that is now the next big missional focus? It’s a demographic age group. There are 2.2 billion kids in the world and those ages 4 to 14 are now considered the largest unreached people group today. Yes, it is still true that before the age of 13, kids are deciding what they believe. The wonderful things about kids is their ability to see no social boundaries and their enthusiasm for life.
Yes, friends, the mission-field has come to your backyard. When we hear "unreached peoples" we think of areas in the world that would take huge efforts to get to... and we certainly need Believers to go there with the message and love of Jesus! The more I research, I realize our children are now part of the "unreached" people group. Over many years of the world influencing & teaching evolution and portraying Creation from Bible as a "good story" our children and teens have lost sight of the truth God's Word. Ken Ham shows startling statistics in his book, "Already Gone" of 20 year olds who left the church because the church lacked the ability to equip and make DISCIPLES.
This verse in Deuteronomy is the picture of what it means to disciple your children. Taking your everyday life as an opportunity to show God's Love, Faithfulness, what it looks like to obey God, praise Him in good times, cry out to Him in hard times. It's important we show our children what it means to not simply go to church or call ourselves Christians... but to live as followers of Jesus and Disciples. My boys are reading a book called, "Playing with Purpose" a story of three athletes who love God. One was Tim Tebow. We learned that Tim was born in the Philippines to missionary parents. After they moved back to the states, Tim and his 4 siblings were home schooled. It is an encouragement to my boys to see how God can use a heart fully surrendered to Him for God's glory. Thanks to Tim's Godly parents... we can see the impact of the Kingdom of God. It has shaped all kinds of sports commentator's conversations and articles today. People across the nation are thinking about the Power of God and His impact in Tim Tebow's life.
As mothers, we have a huge influence. We need to instill the foundations of the truth of God's Word. Do not be discouraged... continue to commit your ways to the Lord, and remember the effort you pour into your children for the Kingdom of God will impact & shape our world and the future.
When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?
The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD is on His heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; His eyes examine them. ~ Psalm 11:3-4
