Living Faithful in a Faithless Land: A Study of DanielSample

Week 1: God is at Work Even in the Painful Days

Training Kids

Read: Proverbs 22:6 and Deuteronomy 6:1-15

SOAP: Deuteronomy 6:6-7

“These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.”

Into the Text

The people of Judah were exiled because they failed to keep their promises to God and started worshiping other gods. But this didn’t mean everyone was unfaithful. Even while most who claimed to be God’s people had turned away, there was a small remnant of people who remained faithful to God.

Even with great training in childhood, these teenage boys had decisions to make about how they were going to live in Babylon. Daniel and his friends were being taught new ideas and ways to look at the world. What would they go along with and what would they challenge? What could they endure despite disagreeing and what would they stand up against for going against the teachings of God?

We, too, have decisions to make about how we are going to live. We must choose whether we are going to listen to God or choose our own way. What does living faithfully look like where you are? How can you begin to not only train yourself in godliness but also in those around you who are younger?

If you are a mom, grandmother, aunt, honoree aunt, or involved at a church, you will have the opportunity to teach children and young people about God. You can do that by opening the Bible with them and explaining what it says. But you will also teach them as you welcome them into your everyday routines and talk about what God has taught you through the years. Ultimately, you are pointing them to the wisdom God gives in His Word for every situation.

The children around you are looking to you, so teach them and train them in the way they should go while also consistently living for God as well. Though each child must choose whether he or she will follow God, your efforts to teach them about Christ will not be wasted. So teach the young people in your life the way they should go with your words, actions, and attitudes.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, your Word faithfully teaches me your ways. Strengthen me to be faithful to you. I pray for the children and young people I know. May I help them to learn of your great love for them, so they might experience it for themselves. I pray that you will sustain believers and help them to trust in you when our culture seeks to lure them away. Amen.