There is no more powerful gift you can give to your children than for the Word of God to bring light to your own eyes.
How important is the Bible to you and the way you live? You want your children to follow the ways of Scripture. You want them to know its content. You want them to know its Author. You know that what the Holy Spirit has written in his Word is essential for life. But allow me to ask again, how important is the Bible to you? Is it possible that you love what the Bible will do for you, but you struggle with actually loving it? In other words, you love the benefits of the Bible's teaching - things like obedient children and a calm household - but there is not a deep longing for Scripture itself.
"Okay," someone is asking, "where are you going with this? Of course I love the Bible; it is the most important book I own." You see, the real test of the Bible's importance to you is this--how alive is the Scripture to you? Hebrews 4:12 describes the Bible as being living and active. Is this merely a fact you teach your kids? Or does this phrase in Hebrews speak of you? Do you read the Bible simply to increase your knowledge so you can better control your children --or to be spiritually fed and enlivened as you read?
We know that our children must trust the Bible and live it. But do our children see that these words of God are living and working in us? Do our children know that the Bible defines who we are and how we live? The prophet Isaiah warned against following words learned by rote:
And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote. Isaiah 29:13
Surely, you want more than rote knowledge to be the basis of your children's worship. But for it to be more than rote for your kids, it must be more than rote for you. It must be alive to you. What is it that gives light to your eyes and brings joy to your heart? This is a significant question, a question whose answer is at once disarming and revealing, if honestly asked and answered.
Think about your relationship to God's Word. How important is it to you? The words of the Bible are the words of the Spirit of God. Does it bring light to your eyes as nothing else can? Your children know what brings light to your eyes. For example, perhaps you just purchased a new iPhone. Were you excited about its features? Was there light in your eyes when you talked to others about this phone? Does your excitement at reading and knowing God's word come close the excitement you have for your new iPhone purchase? If you have not thought about this, your children have.
Continue to think about the words of the Psalmist - do they describe you?
8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes. Psalm 19:8
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