Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (New Living Translation)
6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 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.
I have many routines in life. I have the waking up in the morning routine which usually consists of me laying in bed and mentally putting together my schedule and wardrobe for the day. I have my i just got to work routine where I have to have a couple of minutes of silence before I am ready to speak to anybody. I have my going on a trip routine where I have to make a list of what I want to bring, then I lay it all out, then I pack it, then I find out I am packing too much so I repack my bag with only the items I need.
Its funny how many routines we have, isn't it? My routines become so routine that I forget that I even have any. I think its the same way with our faith. I think we do the same things over and over again that we forget about why we do things in the first place. We lose sight of why we worship, why we tithe, why its important be be part of a community of believers.
Working in the ministry I become a little jaded when it comes to teaching children and youth about the Christian Faith. First of all please know it is an honor and a privlage to be a part of a child and youth's spiritual journey. It is overwhelming to see youth overcome huge obstacles and still take huge steps in their journey toward Christ. Christ does some amazing things with children and youth. Their hearts are wide open to what Christ has in store for them. The problem is as adults we are too busy and preoccupied to realize that it is our responsibility to talk to them about the commandments and share our faith journey with them.
This scripture clearly states our responsibility as adults, parents, and leaders. It tells us to do two things:
1. Commit to the commandments
2. Talk about the commandments with your children.
How many of us take that responsibility to heart? Do we kind of know the commandments enough to give the kids an overview or have we made the commitment to the commandments and then share those commandments with our children-not just once but over and over again?
When do you share your faith? When do you share your journey with others? This is not just the responsibility of Sunday School teachers, youth ministers, and VBS leaders. We are all responsible for sharing our faith journey. As I think about my faith journey I am so grateful for all of the adults who took their time with me. Sharing their faith journey. Praying with me. Praying for me. It was during the inconvienient times, the uncomfortable times, the unimaginable times that my faith grew because the time the adults took in my life.
Its hard not to make our faith journey a routine and something we just do without thinking about it. Take the time to commit to what you have been doing and what you need to do. Share what you are doing and why you do it with the children and youth that God places in your life.
1 comment:
Recently I read a bit about the Lord's prayer and how it is often said with a routine. And like you, I had a bit of a reaction when I read that. "Faith should not be a routine, but a passionate lifestyle." I thought.
However, the author (Stanley Hauerwas) wrote that perhaps routine is not a bad thing at all. Each day we brush our teeth and it is a routine. Yet, the routine is what keeps our teeth healthy, even if we do not have a passion about teeth brushing.
Overall the argument was rooted in the idea that quality time comes in quantity time. Gladwell writes that it takes 10000 hours for us to practice something to master it. Perhaps, we have given routine a bad name? I don't know but it is something that I have been pondering for a while now.
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