“Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.  (Galatians 6:7, CSB).

Nothing worthwhile grows overnight: “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” (Prov. 21:5). Parents, perhaps at no time is this more true than when discipling your children. They take 9 months of incubation, 18+ years of instruction, and a lifetime of mentoring.

I want to focus in on that first oh-so-brief 18-year window of opportunity. Eph. 6:4 says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Bringing up Christian children can’t be knocked out in one fell swoop. God’s word is faithfully planted over many years; the harvest happens “in due season.”

This is an excellent time of year to set some good rhythms in your family life. May I encourage you to make family devotions one of them? You could even begin with just a weekly “family devotion night”. The key is consistency—doing the same thing over and over, so your family comes to anticipate it.

Here are some simple practices you might consider making a regular part of your family devotions.

  1. Family Bible-Reading. Keep it simple: open the Bible together (maybe to a short Psalm or Bible story you’ve found meaningful), and just let your family hear God’s word being read aloud together.
  2. Singing Together. Our church’s weekly email includes a list of songs we sing in worship. If you’re not musically-inclined, you can look up a song on YouTube and sing along.
  3. Family Prayer. Again, no need to make it complicated. Just invite your kids to tell about a need they have, then take a minute together to reverently and thankfully mention them all to God

Those three practices can form the backbone of your family devotions. You can keep it that simple! You’ll probably find you’re able to complete the whole time in less than 10 minutes. If you want to add more variety, here are a couple of other practices we’ve found helpful in our home.

  1. Scripture-Memory. There’s no secret to this: find a short Bible verse you want your family to remember, say it together aloud several times, then repeat next time you’re together. If you have family devotions several times a week, this becomes a very effective way to plant God’s word in your children’s hearts.
  2. Catechism (kat-ə-kiz-um). A catechism is a question-and-answer system used to teach basic biblical truths to young minds. There are many great Christian catechisms out there, some put to music. Here’s the one we use. (link: https://www.youtube.com/@BibleNavigators/videos)

If you would like some specific suggestions on songs or Scripture-passages or memory verses, please email me at jeremy@redemptionbible.church.

Modern family-life is busy at the best of times; so making family devotions a habit will take intentionality (maybe even some sacrifice). But it’s worth the effort in the long-run: “in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

May God bless your efforts to plant His word in your home in 2025!