I am sure you have memorized and have taught your children Proverbs 3:5, 6: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” They are good Scriptures to memorize as a family.
Although I have known these Scriptures from a child, it was only the other day that I discovered that the word “acknowledge” is “yada” in the Hebrew. This is far more than a casual acknowledgement of God. It means to know God in an intimate way. This same word is used of sexual intimacy. We read how God knew Abraham in a personal relationship, He spoke with Moses face to face, and He knew Jeremiah in the womb (Genesis 18:19; Exodus 33:17; Deuteronomy 34:10 and Jeremiah 1:5). He wants us to also know and experience Him (Jeremiah 9:23, 24).
“The Scriptures” is a relatively new translation published by the Institute for Scripture Research. They translate the verse correctly: “KNOW Him in all your ways.” We can only experience God’s true direction in our lives as we know Him. If we have put God into our little box and made Him a god of our own understanding, we will be led our own way. We have to pursue knowing God. We must seek the revelation of Him in His Word.
And dear mothers, we must seek above all things to teach our children to know God, not only know about Him. When God spoke to the little boy, Samuel in the temple 1 Samuel 3:7 states: “Now Samuel did not yet know (yada) the LORD.” Samuel lived in the very temple with the priests but didn’t know God personally yet.
Your children can grow up in your godly home and know about God, and yet miss KNOWING Him personally. Pray that they will come to know God intimately. Fill them with the Scriptures daily because it is the Word that makes them “wise unto salvation” (2 Timothy 3:17). Make sure you are revealing to them the God of the Bible, not a god of your own imagination. They will only know God’s ultimate direction upon their lives as they know God truly and intimately.
Be blessed,
Nancy Campbell