וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣7  בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃

and you should inculcate them in your sons and talk about them when you are sitting  around in your house and when you are walking on the road and when you are going to bed and when you get up in the morning.

This is the answer to the question of how to get our kids to love God.  Talk to them, teach them.  Do it throughout our daily lives. 

When we’re at home, when we’re driving them around town, or walking with them here or there or at the mall.  When we’re putting them to bed (that’s a great time because they want to stay up and are often more ready to listen than at other times) and when we’re sitting over breakfast or taking them to school.

Notice two implications: 1) We parents have the principal responsibility for the spiritual education of our kids.  It’s us, not the church.  Of course the church should dedicate itself to Christian ed for kids.  But the principal responsibility is on the shoulders of parents. No parents should blame the church for the spiritual state of their kids.  The church might do a bad job, but parents can and should make up for what the church fails to do.

2) Christian ed takes place not just at one hour during the week, but throughout the day and week.

One gets the impression from the Hebrew that it is more the ad-lib unprepared discussion of “whatever is the problem or interest at hand” than prepared lessons that shapes the faith of children.  I suggest to parents and grandparents to ask questions to start discussion rather than launching into a mini-lecture.  For older kids: “What do you think of the character of the presidential candidates this year?”  For younger kids: “As long as we’re talking about Christmas, what do you think is the most important part of it all?”  Those are opportunities to bring up God and his Son and the Kingdom.

When we are naturally discussing the whole world and its Creator and how the two relate, on a regular basis, gradually over the course of the years children are formed to naturally think of how God relates to everything.  As they experience our love for them, and see us love God, they will tend to share that same love.

But that raises a question.  Is talking enough?  Or are there more tangible ways we can teach the faith and grow in our own faith?  See tomorrow’s post on verse 8.