day no. 16,500: covenants are conveyed

“One of the great failures of North American evangelicalism is this. We have not communicated a scriptural and covenantal identity to our children and grandchildren. We have not learned how to function as a people. There are millions of us, but we have all the structural solidity of a heap of sand.” — Douglas Wilson, Resolved:Paedocommunion Consistently Expresses Christ’s Purposes in Giving Us the Sacraments

God has commanded us to teach our children to teach their children.

Deuteronomy 6:1-2

Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

Parents are responsible for teaching their grandchildren. They do this by teaching their children to teach their children. They show them how to do it by doing it for them and they tell them what to teach by teaching it to them.

Christian assiduity is a fixed given. Covenants are conveyed. All of Christ for all of life is not just for coffee cups and pinterest. It is an actual top to bottom, front to back way of living your life by faith and to faith. Our kids need the catechism of life and practice.

1 Timothy 4:16

Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Next to our own souls, the souls of those born into our family should be of increased concern. We should want those who hear us most often to hear the Gospel and see our faith in actively believing it in how we handle ourselves.

This doesn't require us to be perfect. It requires us to love perfection. It doesn't mean simply conforming to a standard, but loving a standard and pursuing it as much as we fall short of it.

1 Timothy 4:15

Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

Those who know you the best will see you fail the most. So, how will you fail? In faith? Will you demonstrate faith in the Gospel through repentance and belief? Will you let them see your failures or will you fail to be transparent? Will you hide your sins for the sake of setting a better example? If you do, you only pass along your distrust in the Gospel. You teach that sins must be hidden somewhere other than Jesus in order to be effective in this world. Let your profiting appear to everyone as they watch you fall, get up, grow, and mature in Christlikeness.

Cultures are not built by accident. They are caught and taught, but cannot be bought. There is no off the rack option when it comes to culture. There is no Designer knock off. There is only good, ol' fashioned, hard, Christian work.

So, that said; Do the work, Christian.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.