Making Jesus Famous

“In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” Joshua 4:6-7

Last year I decided to study the book of Revelation with my children. Now I am just like most people-scared to death of what that last mysterious book of Scripture means. With all the various symbols, living creatures, dragons, beasts, and other beings that sound straight out of a science fiction book, it is a book I overlooked for many years. That is until I read the following verse:

Revelation 1:3 (New Living Translation)

“God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.”

I want the Lord’s blessing on my children. I started asking Him how I was to study this book with 10, 9, and 7 year old children. Because we all learn one of three ways, I decided we would read, hear, and write what we were studying. We would all read Revelation chapter by chapter out loud so that they would hear it, and then they would draw a picture of what we had just read. There was something interesting for all three of them. Chase was in his glory with all the gory fighting found in the book. Jordyn loved drawing the angels, and Jenna’s favorite animal were horses, so she had a blast. We wrote out a verse to go along with each picture.

If you walk down the stairs into our basement, you will see our handiwork from last summer, along with the parts of the book of Judges that we did this summer. It is my prayer that my children will glance at their work from the book of Revelation last year and commit this important book to their memory through their pictures. I want them to have memories of us studying God’s Word together. It was a blast, something they really did look forward to each day.

What is my job as a mom? To pass the torch of the Word of God to my children so that they can run with it in their generation. I want my grandbabies to learn from their parents what I taught them. Yes, football practice, gymnastics, and school are all important for my kids. But NOTHING is more important than for me to obey God’s calling on my life as a parent.

Every Jewish child learned the Shema below out of the book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament. It is what I am teaching to my own children. I cannot possibly be with my kids every minute of the day, but Jesus can and is. I am training them for battle in a culture that despises righteous living. They are sitting ducks without the Word of God hidden in their hearts. I pray this prayer almost everyday over my children:

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (New International Version)

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Jesus, may I make You famous to my children. Nothing else in all the world that I do is more important than my children loving You with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Give me wisdom daily on how to make you the sixth and most important member of our family. May turning to You with their concerns be as natural to them as taking their next breath. Please, Jesus, grant this mama’s request.