Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends,

Because of our commitment to sequential exposition, we spend the overwhelming amount of our time together on Sundays working through books of the Bible passage by passage, rarely even mentioning how essential family discipleship is to what we are doing.  This is good and right, of course.  The word of God should be central to our gatherings in such a way that the Head of the Church is heard without us narrowing things to any particular emphasis.  That is the beauty of sequential exposition, which is why we think it should be our steady diet.

That said, we dare not lose sight of how much we are relying on the practice of family discipleship.  We are all betting the farm with no “Plan B” in sight.  No one is waiting in the wings to pick up the ball if you drop it.  My view is that this is as it should be, but we need to remain conscious of the implications so that we continue to feel the weight of it.  Fathers – have you drifted from the terrifying realization that God put you at the head of your household so that you would direct everyone in that household to the LORD their God? God said of Abraham, “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him” (Genesis 18:19).  God did not pick a faithful man.  He made a faithful man.  And God did it so that Abraham would command his household to keep His way.  Fathers – have you considered that the work of God in your life is in some way related to this? That a significant part of His intent was to build things into you for the blessing of your household? If that is so, what will it be like to stand before God one day having been a poor steward of His deposit?  These are sobering questions.

Mothers – what about you? Have you lost sight of your glorious part in this? God has given you many hours in the day with these precious children entrusted to you.  May those hours be consumed in teaching the fear and love of the LORD, hour by hour, day by day.  Don’t be lulled to sleep by the mundane things that are interspersed with the mission.  Stay the course, be faithful, and the day will come when your children will rise up and call you blessed, and your husband will praise you. “Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all” (Proverbs 31:28,29).

Here is the bottom line:  God ought to be worshiped.  There is none like Him in heaven or earth.  His praise ought to be the central occupation of our homes.  We should see to it that we are bowing down before Him in worship every single day, together.  He is worthy.  Has there been a drift away from this in your home? Redouble your efforts.  Reclaim the ground.  Bet the farm.