I’ve long cherished the idea of family devotions.
Of course, our family devotions don’t look exactly the way I’d like them to – instead, our devotional time is about five minutes with quick scripture reading and prayer. Though brief, however, I rest in the promise that His Word doesn’t come back void. I also pray the Lord might ordain that my children learn by example that spending time in the Word is important – no matter the length of time.
As Anne Graham Lotz shares,
When I was a girl growing up, Mother led us in family devotions every day. She read the Bible, prayed and that was that. When Daddy was home he led in family devotions. But when he read the Bible he would stop and make a comment, ask a question and lead us in discussion. So, my mother taught me by her example to love reading my Bible every day, and my daddy taught me by his example to think about what I was reading.
After Anne’s mother went to heaven, her father asked her to start reading him the Bible. Initially, she admits, it was intimidating. And then it became a joy. She shares that she would sit closely to him, (he was hard of hearing), and he’d ask her to give him a full 60-minute message. As he got weaker, the time shortened. But, she notes, the pattern was always the same—whoever was in the house was called to gather around him whether he was at the kitchen table, or sitting in his study chair, or more recently when he was in his bedroom. But before she read a passage of Scripture, she would explain why she had chosen it. Then she would read the passage to him and always end by telling “Daddy” that she loved him.
At his funeral service, with twenty-five hundred people in attendance and millions more watching the live broadcasts, for the last time, Anne notes, she led in “family devotions.”
And on the day of her father’s funeral service, she chose to make a pledge to
. . . do the work of an evangelist – I will share the Gospel, I will run my race and live my life, so that five minutes before I see Jesus I have no regrets—I will live my life to exalt and glorify the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Share God’s Word with your listeners through the airing of Anne’s daily 1:00, “Daily Light for Daily Living” and/or her weekly 26:00, “Living in the Light” – contact me for details!
