Lesson 270 - Junior

Memory Verse

"Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right” (Proverbs 20:11).

Notes

The Home

Seated before the hearth in a country home, we see a family group -– a father, mother, and four children. All eyes are turned toward the father, and absolute silence prevails in this room. Then we hear the father's voice as he reverently reads a bedtime story to the children.

But wait! This is more than a bedtime story! That is a Bible, which he holds in his hands. Upon finishing the chapter, this family of six kneels, and together they lift their voices in prayer to God, as the hearth fire burns low. Good-nights are said and the happy family retires for the night. We decide that this very unusual sight is an old-fashioned home of today, or it may be that our imagination has carried us back to some years ago, for homes like that are hard to find today.

Shall we look in on another African home, say a modern family in a large city? There we find another father, mother, and their children. Their eyes and ears, too, are intent upon the usual bedtime story. This story, however, is not being read from God's Holy Word, but is coming over the radio. We see a miniature motion-picture theatre; we hear voices, laughter, and shouting. The hour grows late and yet the family listens and watches with interest the television set. The children's eyes become red and weary, but the act is not yet completed, and the show continues on and on.

When one compares the lives of children brought up in these two types of homes, it is not hard to see the far-reaching value of family worship. Certainly a trail of blessings follows the children brought up in a home where the family altar has a place. But, sad to say, the old-fashioned, God-fearing home is almost a thing of the past. We are living in a rapid age, dashing here, and running there. It is hurry, worry, scurry, and bustle from morning until late at night. There is little time devoted to God.

Bible Study at Home

Let us turn to God's Word and see what type of home is commendable in His sight. Through His servant Moses, God told the people, "These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” [DEU:6:6-7]).

Did you ever try to commit to memory a passage of Scripture? By repeating it often -– while sitting in the house, while out walking, when going to bed, and the first thing on arising in the morning -– you soon learn it well. That was the way the people of long ago were to teach the words of the Lord to their children, since there were just a few written copies of the whole Law. They were also told to write passages of the Law on four pieces of hard calf's skin and tie them to their foreheads or to their hands. Whether or not the people wore them all the time we do not know, but it all meant that they should be very careful to observe the Law of God and always keep it before them and never forget it. They were told also to write the words of the Law upon the posts of the house and on the gates.

A Faithful Father

When God's faithful servant, Joshua, was about to die, he called the people together and talked to them of the goodness of God. Just as children stand around the bedside of departing parents to catch their last words, so the Israelites lent an ear to the last words of their leader. Then, after reviewing the blessings of the Lord he said, "If it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve.” In other words: "You can hesitate no longer; make a decision today; don't do as the crowd does, but do as the right ones do.” There was no decision to be made so far as Joshua was concerned: his house, his family, his children, his ser-vants – "will serve the LORD.” Joshua was a judge and ruler but God came first in his life.

This was a solemn moment for Israel and it is a solemn moment when the Spirit of God calls anyone to make a decision. Have you answered the call of Christ and said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD”? Perhaps your influence is not strong enough to win your whole school for Christ, or even the whole class in which you are enrolled. But if you cannot bring to Christ as many as you would like, then bring as many as you can. If you live the life of a Christian, read your Bible and pray, you may win every member of your family, if they are not already saved.

A Godly Heritage

If you are a boy or girl whose parents have taught you to love and serve the Lord; if your parents have taught you the commandments of God, you are indeed fortunate. God is pleased with parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents who have taught the Word to their children, "that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” [PS:78:6-7]). No parents can make atonement for the sins of their children. They can pray for their sons and daughters, but unless the children turn to God and repent of their sins they will be lost.

Daily Devotion

When the Bible is read during family worship time, open the "ears” of your heart. If you do, you will know what is right and what is wrong and it will give you courage to say No when you are asked to take part in activities, which your conscience tells you are not becoming to a Christian.

If, among those who read this lesson, there is a boy or girl who is not privileged to have a Christian father or mother, we urge you to set aside a certain time in the morning before school and again at night for prayer time. At that time read your Bible and meet the Lord in prayer. The morning is the best time. Give God the blossom of the day; don't put Him off with faded leaves. From Him you may draw sweetness, which will enable you to remain unruffled by worries, which arise during the day.

Grace at Table

The days seem to be past for most African homes when, as the dinner call is given, the family gather around the table and bow their heads while the father asks the blessing. God's Word gives many examples that teach us that every person should always ask God's blessing upon his food before partaking of it. At the last supper that Jesus ate with His disciples, the night of His betrayal, He took bread, and when he had given thanks he brake it [1CO:11:23];[1CO:11:24]). We all know the two stories of the multitudes that were fed. Before each of those meals Jesus looked up to Heaven and blessed the food and gave thanks, and then gave it to the disciples for the people. Paul, too, gave thanks to God before he ate his food [ACT:27:33-37]). Should we not return thanks to God for the daily bread, which He so bountifully provides for us, especially for the people of Africa?

To Parents and Children

Children brought up in homes where the family altar has been set aside and where God is not reverenced, face a world of temptation that will drag their soul down to a lost eternity unless they are given an opportunity to seek and find God. Some of the evils, which are becoming traps for the soul of the very young are: movies, television, crime radio programs, worldly dress, cigarettes, roller-skating rinks, school dances, worldly parties, and crime comics. Should not every parent and every Sunday School teacher diligently teach the Word of God to the children in order to prepare them to combat the forces of evil? Sheepherders tell us that a wolf will never take a sheep so long as it can get a lamb. Children are like helpless little lambs.

The Gospel is for both parents and children. If you are too busy to pray, you are just too busy. If a child is not receiving a Christian training at home and is not being sent to Sunday School, where will he hear about God? Certainly not in the public schools from which the Bible has been barred!

God's Word commands, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” [PRO:22:6]). Those who fail to take time to do this are robbing their children of a heritage which eternity will disclose as an awful loss. Is there an altar in your home?

Questions

1. whom should we fear?

2. How much should we love God?

3. Tell how Israel was to teach the Law of God to their children.

4. What kind of father was Joshua?

5. How many references in Scripture can you find in regard to returning thanks before eating our food?

6. What blessings follow those brought up in a Christian home?

7. Do you read the Bible and pray every day?