If you’ve been to a retreat at Sonrise, you have spent time thinking about “the rocking chair” and what will be most important to you at the end of your life. Many of us want to be able to say we learned God’s Word together as a family. But for virtually every family, the hard part is finding time and a good resource for family Bible study/devotionals.
One step to consider: pick one book of the Bible; read and discuss one verse each night as a family. You can follow this pattern:
Review the previous verse
Read that day’s verse
Discuss the meaning
Apply it to your life (each person or as a family)
Acquiring a study Bible or a good commentary that has useful background information can be helpful for certain passages. Asking questions (Who remembers last night’s verse? / How does that apply to your life?) works well. No rocket science here; no Ph.D. required.
Before you take this step: Husband and wife must be in agreement to institute anything that is an everyday thing. Making time for this has to be “on the calendar” for both Mom and Dad and will initially take some adjustments. The best option for most families is right before bedtime or right after dinner. This practice can be as short as 5 minutes or as long as 30 minutes.
Pray and ask the Lord to help you take this step. Some of our most treasured (and funny) times come as we try to understand and apply God’s Word as a family. For most families, this is a very practical choice that will lead them one step closer to where they want to be when they reach the rocking chair.