Sharing God-Incidents with Children

In my prior post, Responding to God-incidents, I noted the need for us to tell others about what God has done. Recently, as I was reseaching this topic biblically I was not surprised to see that repeatedly, particularly in the Psalms, scriptures speaks of telling or singing about God's mighty deeds. I was surprised to find though that frequently we are encouraged to do so with a specific audience--the next generation. For example, Psalm 78:3-4 says, "What we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done."

When I recognized this instruction I was reminded of a study I read a number of years ago. I read a study focused on finding what made the difference between children who continued to be active in their faith as adults versus those who did not. The study concluded that a key factor in the lives of children who remained active was that God was spoken about conversationally in the home. As pastors we spend a lot of time talking about God in our home already, nevertheless I am consciously working to just periodically say things like, "You know we are really blessed. God has..." or "What a beautiful day God has given us." We tell lots of God-incident stories in our home but I really want to begin acknowledging the goodness of God to my children even more.

How are you speaking of God's praiseworthy deeds to the next generation? Even if you do not have children, who could you speak to? What is God doing in your life that needs acknowledgement? Pray about it. Think it. Set a goal for it. Do it.
Peace from the Practical Disciple