Parenting Prerogatives Series

This verse defines the relationship that God’s people are to have with Him: God is the only God, there is no other. He is totally unique, not some vague pantheistic force. Notice that He is “our” God – He is personal and relational and His people can enjoy intimacy with Him. I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with someone this week over the course of two days. The first day I talked a lot about the importance of receiving the gift of salvation (John 1:12). The individual I was speaking with struggled with this. When I went back the next day he said that he had never really understood that before and then right there on the spot he prayed and received Christ into His life. Now he knows God in a personal way.

Kevin DeYoung, a pastor and author of “Why We’re not Emergent,” also writes a blog. I like what he said in a post called, “Reaching the Next Generation: Amaze Them with God.” (See www.thegospelcoalition.org). Here are some highlights…

“I beg of you, don’t go after the next generation with mere moralism…The gospel is not a message about what we need to do for God, but about what God has done for us. So get them with the good news about who God is and what he has done for us…Give them a God who is holy, independent, and unlike us, a God who is good, just, full of wrath and full of mercy. Give them a God who is sovereign, powerful, tender, and true. Give them a God with edges. Give them an undiluted God who makes them feel cherished and safe, and small and uncomfortable too. Give them a God who works all things after the counsel of his will and for the glory of his name. Give them a God whose love is lavish and free. Give them a God worthy of wonder and fear, a God big enough for all our faith, hope, and love.

“Do your friends, your church, your family, your children know that God is the center of the universe? Can they see that he is at the center of your life? We have an incredible opportunity before us. Most people live weightless, ephemeral lives. We can give them substance instead of style. We can show them a big God to help make sense of their shrinking lives. We can point them to transcendence instead of triviality. We can reach them with something more lasting and more powerful than gimmicks, gadgets, and games. We can reach them with God. Imagine that. Reaching the next generation for God by showing them more of God. That’s just crazy enough to work.”

The first principle is to learn why God must be central. The second is to live what God says.

2. Live what God says. Check out verse 3: “Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers promised you.” It’s one thing to learn something; it’s another thing all together to live it out. When I’m “careful to obey” there will be harmony between my life and my lips. It’s not enough to just know information – it must lead to personal transformation. I love how God is moving here at PBC! Two weeks ago 8 people were baptized and around that same time I received an email from someone who had just received Christ. I love how he describes his decision: “So I am in, I want to be transformed. I surrender.”