"Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood."
Deuteronomy 29:18
Part 3
Yesterday: Faithful Dads and Moms build up Faithful Families
“Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe.”
Today: Beware of Letting Your Life and Family Drift
“Whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God” (a).
Sadly, as time went by, many of the Children of Israel drifted away from God. His commandments, judgments, and ordinances lost their appeal. The Law just wasn’t that important to them anymore. Their hearts were not in their worship.
If we are not careful, “drifting” can be a hazard for us today. We need to be extremely careful about floating along in the current and not actively living for Christ. In our homes, “going with the flow” or “drifting” is deadly, for it erodes our teaching that God is the most important thing to us. Children seldom believe what their parents say if they cannot see it actively lived out in their mom and dad’s lives. Don’t you think your children can see what is really important to you?
Before a person “drifts away from God,” he or she first becomes lukewarm in their relationship with Him. They have already been drifting from the Word, from church, from other believers for some time before they take that final step away from God. Drifting is lethal!
“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (Hebrews 2:1).
Every Child of God, an Active Participant
We teach each one in our family to be a committed participant in the Christian life! Home is the place we demonstrate to our kids that we all love and serve Jesus together. Our willing service is out of love for our Savior. The Old Covenant was based upon their works, fulfilling their duties, and keeping the Law. The New Covenant is a covenant of grace and forgiveness by the work of Jesus Christ for us. We desire to worship Him because we love Him. The law is not hanging over our heads threatening us. We are privileged to belong to Him and to be living by the principles of His Word!
God’s ideal for us is to walk with Him daily. This truth we must pass down to our children. We are joyfully living by what His Word teaches us. We do not build our relationship with Him based upon our works, because our obligation to Him is a debt we can never repay. Our relationship with Jesus is by faith, based upon His grace to us (Ephesians 2:8-9). How our young ones need to understand this reality!
I love you, Lord[1]
And I lift my voice
To worship you
Oh my soul, rejoice
Take joy, my king
In what you hear
May it be a sweet, sweet sound
In your ear.
What happens when someone professes to be a Christian, but they end up walking away from the faith? Tomorrow we will look briefly at those sad people who leave God behind.
Quote: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John 2:19).
[1] “I Love You, Lord,” by Laurie Klein, 1978.
Copyright: © 1978 House of Mercy Music (admin. Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Publishing).