This week, I’ve been reading the book Child Guidance where the author, Ellen White, talks about teaching children reverence for the things of God. It’s been very convicting because I realize that in order for me to teach Imanuel how to be reverent, I have to be reverent. There are several things that she mentions we should teach our children to reverence – God’s name, God’s Word, God’s day – but the two that struck me the most were:
1. God’s ministers (and I doubt this excludes if you’re married to one) and
2. God’s house (or any physical building/room where He is worshipped)
1. “They [children] are seldom instructed that the minister is God’s ambassador, that the message he brings is one of God’s appointed agencies in the salvation of souls, and that to all who have the privilege brought within their reach, it will be a savor of life unto life or of death unto death.”
“Parents, be careful what example and what ideas you give your children…. In regard to the service of the sanctuary, if the speaker has a blemish, be afraid to mention it. Talk only of the good work he is doing, of the good ideas he presented, which you should heed as coming through God’s agent. It may be readily seen why children are so little impressed with the ministry of the Word, and why they have so little reverence for the house of God.”
2. “Parents, elevate the standard of Christianity in the minds of your children; …teach them to have the highest reverence for the house of God and to understand that when they enter the Lord’s house, it should be with hearts that are softened and subdued by such thoughts as these: “God is here; this is His house. I must have pure thoughts and the holiest motives. I must have no pride, envy, jealousy, evil surmising, hatred, or deception in my heart; for I am coming into the presence of the holy God. This is the place where God meets with and blesses His people. The high and holy One who inhabiteth eternity looks upon me, searches my heart, and reads the most secret thoughts and acts of my life.”
I pray that this will be my experience starting from tomorrow’s worship service – that I will give God the highest reverence for His appointed ministers, for His house, and teach my children to do the same.
