By Phillip Hines

Before Israel entered the promised land, God gave instructions to the parents. In these instructions, God shared with them how they could pass on their faith to their children.  

Deuteronomy 6:4-9: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 

“You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Recently, I read a story about a preacher who was entertained in a farm home of a member of the church where he preached. The preacher was impressed by the intelligence and unusually good behavior of the only child in the home, a little 4-year-old boy.

The minister discovered one of the reasons for the child’s charm.  

The mother was at the kitchen sink washing the various parts of a mixer. The little boy came to her with a child’s Bible storybook. He asked, “Mother, what is this man in the picture doing?”  

To the preacher’s surprise, she dried her hands and sat down in a chair. She put the boy in her lap and spent several minutes answering his questions.  

After the child left, the minister commented on her having interrupted her task to answer the boy’s question. He said to her, “Most mothers wouldn’t have bothered.”  

Then the mother said, “Preacher, I expect to be washing mixers for the rest of my life, but never again will my son ask me that question.”

Mothers, fathers – that ought to give us something to think about!