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The Bible in the Home

Home is the place where we learn the truth of God's truth

Introduction

1. Text: 2 Tim. 3:14,15.

2. We take for granted the freedom to keep as many copies of the Bible as we wish in our homes -- and we would protest loudly if this privilege were threatened.

3. But we need to do more than have copies of the Bible in our homes -- our homes need to be places where the Bible is important in the real life of the home.

4. In too many of our families, we have little to do with the Bible except in connection with the Bible classes or worship services of the local congregation.

5. Study of the Bible, and talk about it, need to be a vital part of our daily home life.

I. GOD HAS ALWAYS WANTED HIS WORD STUDIED
AND TALKED ABOUT IN THE HOME

1. About Abraham, God said, "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him" (Gen. 18:19).

2. Parents in Israel were to talk to their children about:

   1. The plagues in Egypt. Cf. Exo. 10:1,2.

   2. The Passover. Cf. Exo. 12:26,27.

   3. The law of the firstborn. Cf. Exo. 13:14,15.

   4. God's speaking from Sinai. Cf. Deut. 4:9,10.

   5. The law of God. Cf. Deut. 6:20-25.

   6. The memorial stones at Jordan. Cf. Josh. 4:4-7.

3. The things of God were to be talked about not just at special "religious" times, but during the ordinary activities of daily living in the home.

   1. What impression do we leave when we restrict talk about God to set times?

   2. "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up, etc." (Deut. 6:6-9).

II. HOME IS THE PRIMARY PLACE WHERE
WE ARE TO "LEARN" THE BIBLE

1. Whatever Bible instruction the local congregation may provide as a supplement, for either adults or children, this is no substitute for learning the text and the truths of the Bible in the home.

2. With regard to children, parents have the responsibility of teaching their children God's word - Prov. 22:6;
   Eph. 6:4.

3. Fathers are given specific responsibility for the spiritual training of their children.

   1. There is no greater problem among us than the widespread abdication by fathers of their God-given role of spiritual leadership in the home.

   2. Too often anymore, men do not have the time, the inclination, or the ability to teach their children
      the Bible.

   3. "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4).

   4. "Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged" (Col. 3:21).

4. But more than being a place where the contents of the Bible are to be learned, the home is the ideal place for the truth of the Bible to be learned in real-life situations and relationships.

   1. Home is where we most often pass beyond "knowing" the truths of the Bible to knowing they are true at the practical level.

   2. Home is where we most often learn "the truth of God's truths."

5. Home is where the truths of God's word are not only taught, but modeled, illustrated, and brought to life.

6. By keeping the Bible at the periphery of our home life, we miss many of the valuable teaching and learning opportunities presented by the situations that arise daily. Cf. Deut. 6:6-9.

III. HOW CAN WE PUT THE BIBLE AT THE CENTER OF OUR HOMES?

1. We can make sure that every member of the family has a Bible and is taught to properly care for it.

   1. We can even give the Bible a more prominent physical place in our homes.

   2. Should the most important and useful thing in the house be kept in the back of the closet?

2. We can make actual plans for educating our families in the Scriptures.

   1. What we and our children need to know about the Bible is much too important to be left to chance, assuming that we and they will "pick it up" somewhere and somehow.

   2. We need to have a definite purpose and plan for learning God's word.

3. We can make it a priority to take the Bible out of the special "compartment" we have kept it in our lives and involve it in the routine of our daily family lives.

4. We can read (and study) the Bible every day as individuals.

5. We can put more into preparation at home for our adult congregational classes.

6. We can be more involved in what our children are doing in their Bible classes.

7. We can have regular family Bible studies or devotionals.

8. We can read our children bedtime Bible stories every night.

9. We can talk about God and His word in our homes!

Conclusion

1. In regard to their children, parents typically concern themselves with three things:

   1. Providing for them.

   2. Preparing them to be adults.

   3. Leaving them a legacy.

2. How does the Bible fit into those concerns for our children?

3. How does the Bible fit into the memories our children will have of home? Cf. 2 Tim. 1:5; 3:14,15.

4. But the Bible should be the center of all our homes -- not just those where there are children. Cf. the home of Floyd and Ruth Thompson.

5. May we not "hide" God from our loved ones. Cf. "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. 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, that they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments; and may not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God" (Psa. 78:4-8). Cf. Deut. 6:6-9.

6. May the Bible be continually in our hearts and in our homes.