1. THE FIRST FOOTPRINTS

1. THE FIRST FOOTPRINTS

God wants to permeate our lives and our homes, not to be Sunday business; but to be a God that is active every single day of our lives, our businesses, our neighborhood activity, and in our homes.

A very important principle is to somehow make God irresistible to that next generation. That is our responsibility. We have lessons to learn from children and they have lessons to learn from us.

How can we make an invisible God visible to children?

1. By learning to recognize Him ourselves! (John 14:19-23; 5:17).

John 14:19-23 – We have got to see the visibility of an invisible God, before we can point that out, or teach that to another child. Jesus is talking about disclosing Himself in a way to them that He discloses Himself to us today, in our generation. He is talking about making Himself visible in many different ways in a life, even though He is very much an invisible God.

John 5:17 – God is always actively working in your life right now, whether or not you can see Him.

John 14:21 – Through obeying God’s Word we come to love Him, and through obedience we find safety. Obedience is the way to the plan that God has for us. They more we love Him, the more we’ll see Him.

2. By exerting primary influence while you can (Proverbs 4:1-4, 10, 20-21).

Children learn by repetition. Once we have taught a concept about God, we will often find we have to come back and reconfirm that concept with children, and make sure they understand.

Tender (rak) in Hebrew means “soft-hearted, pliable.”

This is the primary time to exert every bit of the influence you can about Christ. Later, they will know when the counterfeit comes in.

3. By personally demonstrating the relevance of God’s Word (Proverbs 3:5-6).

We can teach our children how God has been faithful to do exactly that in our own lives (Matthew 6:33). How when we were growing up, we just got out of pure obedience to God, chose His way of what instead looked so obvious and what we would have wanted to do, but how God honored that decision, that choice. God is faithful to those who are faithful to Him. His Word is relevant. Children are watching the very visible communication that we have, as we react or respond to what we are going through. They will look for relevance or proof that God is an active living God in us.

4. By seizing opportunities to teach about God (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

This is the “Shema” of the Hebrew people. In the Hebrew home, since God was a way of life, and not just a religion; they talked to their children about Him at every possible occasion, and about His Word.

Some of the most prime times to teach a child is when you are on the go. If we make children sit down every single time we want to teach them something about God, they begin to relate God to boredom. If God becomes that spontaneous moment, when life just gives a sudden lesson; those children will perk up and they will start to listen - the relevance of God in spontaneous teaching.

5. By growing with them! (1 Corinthians 13:11).

We see this in teaching children. We have to develop an intimate relationship with God.

6. By dedicating them to God (Proverbs 22:6).

“Train up (chanakh)” in Hebrew means:

1. “to disciple”

Teach them the ways of God, the Word of God, take them to church, when they play, when you’re in the car, whatever you are doing.

2. “to dedicate”

God’s Word is saying “You teach them, and then you dedicate those children to me.”

“Depart” means “to turn off or make disappear.”

“If you teach that child, and you dedicate that child to God, that for the rest of their lives they cannot turn off the Word of God, or make it disappear.”

The truth will ultimately bring you back home.

Pray for God to drive that child crazy, till He drives Him back to Christ.