This is a post from Melissa Ringstaff of A Virtuous Woman
Preparing Your Family for Eternal Life
One of the greatest joys of being a mom is to see your children walk with God.
My children are growing up so fast – my son is 23 and then I have 4 girls ages 19, 17, 13, and 11. I can hardly believe how quickly the years have gone by!
Over the years I have had many people tell me how lucky I am to have such good kids.
Here’s the thing though – it has nothing to do with luck! Raising kids take a lot of work. And even more prayer. Raising kids who love the Lord, are respectful, compassionate, merciful, and helpful takes even more work. And lots and lots of training.
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More than anything I want my children to be in Heaven with me. I want to know that if the Lord were to come to take us Home tomorrow that all of my family would be going with me!
Today is the Day
Our world is in such chaos. Tomorrow is so uncertain. We don’t know what trials we will face as a family, as a community, or as a nation. The Bible tells us that the world will be in turmoil before the Lord returns and I feel this sense of urgency like never before that things are about to change.
Do you feel it too?
We can’t wait until tomorrow to consecrate our lives to God. Today is the day of our salvation. Today is the day we must choose whom we will serve.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15
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4 Ways to Prepare for Eternal Life
1. Pray together. Families who pray together stay strong. There are so many temptations set before us on a daily basis. Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit leading us and our children, we are more likely to fall into Satan’s trap.
Our children need to see us praying. They need to hold our hands as we pray for them and with them.
2. Memorize Scripture Together. Hiding God’s Word in our hearts is more important than we often realize. What would happen if one day you didn’t have access to a Bible? I know that seems far fetched living in America. But it could happen.
What if one day you were separated from your children like the Jewish people were in the concentration camps? Would they have God’s Word in their hearts and minds to carry them through? Jesus said a time of trouble was coming like never before. We need to be ready!
3. Read the Bible Aloud. I’ve been reading the Bible aloud to my girls each week. We pick a book to go through and then read the whole thing over a period of time. Then we pick another. We discuss the Scriptures as we read and talk about hard to understand concepts or unusual words. What a blessing that has been to me! I know my children enjoy that time we share together as well.
There are so many ways you can read the Bible together. The important thing is to just do it.
4. Family Worship. Worshiping together as a family has many blessings. Your children will love the time spent with mom, dad, and siblings. Family worship doesn’t have to be complicated. And again, there are many ways you can have worship together as a family. In our house we typically sing some hymns, read a devotion, mission story, or the Bible and then close with prayer requests and time on our knees, holding hands as we pray.
Family worship brings families closer together and those moments are moments your children will cherish in the years to come.
As Christian parents, given the gift of children from our Lord, it is our responsibility to ensure that our children are lovingly guided, encouraged, and strengthened so that no matter what trials they face in the future they hold fast to the hand of God.