On the second Sunday in June people in America celebrate Children’s Day, which actually predates the celebration of Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, going way back to 1856.  The date to celebrate has changed a few times, but currently is celebrated the second Sunday in June or October 8th.  Many people do not even know there is such a day to be celebrated, but most people agree that children are special in many ways.

        “Words from Above” in the Bible tell us that the almighty God of the universe considers children to be “His heritage”, according to Psalm 127:3.  Most people love children, but not as much as God, who also has a lot of confidence in them.  He used them as examples of how members of the kingdom of God would live and behave.  He once called them to come to Him so that he could pronounce special blessings on them, and warned people about offending them.

        When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, He instructed him to tell the people of Israel to “teach them diligently to their children”.  He also gave them some very good suggestions about how to go about doing this.  He first said they should talk about them when they were sitting in their homes, which they normally did during the evening meal.  Most of the time members of the family were scattered in different directions during the daytime hours, and the evening meal was a time when they could all be together.  During the evening meal they talked about the events of the day in each of their lives, which provided an opportunity to connect these events to the teachings of the Scriptures.

        Moses also said that the people could talk about the Ten Command-ments when they were walking from place to place, which was the main way they had of getting from one place to another.  The main way people today get around is by car, and there is no reason to not talk about them at that time.  Moses also told the people to talk about the Commandments when they got ready to go to bed at night and when they got out of bed the next morning.  So, the idea is that the people could discuss the Commandments first thing in the morning, the last thing at night, and at convenient times in between morning and night.  Not only would the children benefit by talking about the commandments during these times, but so would the parents. 

Obviously, Moses is not here to speak to us today, but his words are still in the Scriptures, and we still need to pay attention to them today.

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.