Shepherding a Child's Heart

Family Worship
Family worship must function in the broader, richer sense that I
have described in the paragraphs above. It’s easy to have a shift of
means and end. The practice of family worship is a means, not an end.
It is a means to the end of knowing God. The name of the game is not
daily family worship per se; it is knowing God. The end is knowing
God. A means to employ in reaching that end is family worship.
You need family worship that connects with your children and
their lives. You must be creative and flexible in assuring that your
family worship serves the shepherding and nurturing tasks we have
outlined above.
Reading the Proverbs daily is of great benefit to children (and to
adults). Our daily practice was to read one-third of a chapter of
Proverbs before school each day. This was a rich source of wisdom
and encouragement for our children. We have seen them learn and
then later internalize the principles in this practical section of the
Word of God. The Proverbs serve as an owner’s manual for life.
Proverbs confronts a child with every aspect of true spirituality.
When our children were little, we would read Old Testament
passages and act them out. I have been Goliath (with the help of a
chair). We have hidden in caves (under the table) with David as he ran
from Saul. Reading some of the Psalms of persecution in that setting

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made them come alive for our children. One day, we packed our
things and set out on foot, talking about Abraham who left Ur not
knowing where he would go, only knowing God would go with him.
We tried to imagine walking away from our home knowing we would
never come back again. We tried to imagine not knowing where we
would go.
Why do all this? For this simple reason: to make the Bible truth
live for our children. Always remember that the goal of family
worship is knowing God. When you lose sight of that goal, family
worship becomes an empty ritual. You need only read Isaiah 1 to see
how God feels about empty ritual.