Just as God has arranged for his children through His Word and Abraham passed on instruction to Israel in Deuteronomy, so should we pass on God’s instruction to our children- God’s truth- as opposed to the world’s view of how to live.
I like to use the K.I.S.S. method—Keep it Short and Simple. The following are two main instructions in truth that I feel are important for my boys to know, embrace and live out.
1. KNOW GOD
The first indispensable instruction I can give is to truly know God. The original languages of the Bible are mainly Hebrew and Greek. In both, the word translated “know” means far more than information and facts. The Word includes the ideas of intimacy and authentic experience. The Hebrew word “know”, or “yada” means far more than intellectual information. It involves intimate experience and relationship.
It was sometimes compared to the intimate relations experienced by a husband and wife. For example, Genesis 4 speaks of Adam and Eve, our first parents and says…
GENESIS 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” KJV
Another example of this definition is Mary’s response to the angel who tells she will be having a baby.
Luke 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, “How shall this be, seeing I KNOW not a man?” KJV
I say to you- and my sons- the most essential and important thing in life is that you know God. That means you have encountered him by way of intimate experience and continue to have an intimate relationship with Him.
John 8:31 So Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, “If you continue to obey my teaching, you are truly my followers.” NCVCol 1:23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it. NLT