We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

Psalm 78:4 NKJV

“Single minded.” Many times I have heard this accusation. When I have one thing that I am working on or thinking about – all else takes a back seat.

This can be dangerous because people like me tend to forget that the oven is on or that the kids need to be picked up (I actually only did that once or twice as my kids were growing up).

The “up” side is that whatever we do, we are “all in” in the moment. We choose to think about the future later. 

Recently, as I heard Psalm 78 being read, I was reminded just how important, as Christians, it is to think about the future now. In verses 1-4 Asaph says that he will utter “dark sayings of old” that were handed down by their fathers and would not withhold these things from the children, “Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done…”

In verses 5-6 he says this was a command from God and includes children “who would be born.”

For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;  That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children…”

Then he tells us why in Psalm 78:7:

That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments.

We live in a busy culture. Mothers and fathers have so many irons in the fire that teaching their own children to keep God’s commandments has become something rarely done. So few others are trying; it’s hard to find examples to point to. When we look at these verses and many more in the scriptures that give us an understanding of God’s future-oriented, long-term view of the family, we see a responsibility for every family to assume: the responsibility of passing down the truths of our faith so future generations will hear them, too.

If we are busy or we claim that our minds don’t work that way we are being “single–minded.” We are disobeying this law of God to teach the next generation. (Deuteronomy 6:6-8). A vital part of our teaching is emphasizing the requirement to do the same. Our children should not just learn the faith, they must be taught to teach it.

By God’s grace, He is growing His Kingdom one person at a time as He reveals Himself to more people. With these new believers comes a responsibility in the Church to disciple them so that He can use them to grow His kingdom by adding their children.

They cannot teach what they do not know. We could be believers for a long time before we hear from our pulpits this command to teach our children. Some may never hear it.

Ladies, I know we are busy but we also have a command to teach the younger women (Titus 2:3-5). What could be removed from your schedule so you have time to teach another woman to teach the next generation so they can teach the one that has not yet been born?