“The Greatest Adventure”

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These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. . .” — Deuteronomy 6:6,7

What comes to mind when you read the words “the greatest adventure your family will ever experience”? Traveling around Europe? Deer hunting in Montana? Camping in Yellowstone? White-water rafting in Colorado? Glacier skiing in France? A mission trip to South America? Hiking the Appalachian Trail? A one-week stay at DisneyWorld?

The young father who wrote those words was an Army Ranger, with all of the training and experience that entails. And he refers to reading through the Bible with his young family as the greatest adventure they ever accomplished together. Here is what this West Point graduate wrote to us: “The best part of the year has been family devotions. It has been humbling as a dad to lead that time and read a chapter or so a night from my Bible, 5-6 times a week. . . . After 4 ½ years we finished our journey through the Bible. Each one of us has learned a tremendous amount. So, what do you do when you finish? You have an award ceremony, frame a certificate to put on the piano, and start on lap #2! As intimidating as it may seem (and it did to me at first), your life will never be the same. You may think that your children are too young. Our littlest was 3 years old when we started. You may think that you have too much commotion around your dinner table. The neighborhood children joined us regularly, even a friend’s 2-year-old. Most nights we had 1-4 additional children sitting with us. As time went on, they would race home to get their own Bibles. I would encourage you dads to believe The Lord when He says that His Word will ‘not return to Him empty, but will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it.’ (Isaiah 55:11). Take the lead and start the greatest adventure your family will ever experience.”

As much as I love books of devotions written specifically for the family, there is nothing that can replace the reading of Holy Scripture. Taking in this divine “nourishment” a chapter-a-day is just what a family needs to stay healthy. Verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter, book-by-book, section-by-section. . . .truth is being read, listened to, perhaps discussed . . . and as the years go by, a family comes to understand the Bible in ways that only a systematic reading can reveal.

But what if you are separated because of deployment? How do you “do devotions together” when you’re not together? How does a dad lead his family in nightly Bible reading when he’s not there? I asked our friend those very questions. He told us that it is easiest to begin before the dad leaves (in his case—but it would work with moms who are leading their children in devotions) so that a pattern has been set for the spouse at home to continue. He added that what keeps things going for the family at home is for the deployed parent to send an email from a reading ahead by saying something like, “Wait ‘til you get to ____! It’s great! Here’s what I learned when I read that chapter______.” Then the family at home can print out that email and share it during the devotional time.

Maybe you are asking, “Do people actually do this?” The answer is—“YES!” Maybe not every night—maybe not every week. . . . but regularly enough that the children realize that they are, as a family, reading together through the Bible—even when experiencing deployment. Completing this “great adventure” will take years. . . .but in the process your family has learned not only Scripture, but also patience, perseverance, discipline—and has had fun in the process!

Where did our friend get the idea to read Scripture nightly at the dinner table, a chapter at a time? From another friend—someone who read Scripture to his kids nightly, at bed time. He has shared that he was reluctant to begin this discipline as his life was just too crazy. But. . . God is faithful, and He made a way once our friend took the first step at the encouragement of his wife. It’s a step he has never regretted as he has seen God work in his family’s life in ways he could never have imagined.

He recently wrote this statement, “Opening God’s Word with my family has become a passion in my life. It is the highlight of the last ten years for me. It has been a great adventure, and I have seen the Lord work in my home and in other homes as well.”

Are you ready for a great adventure? Maybe something that five years from now you will declare to be the “greatest adventure” your family will ever experience? Don’t let deployment stop you. . . .don’t let busyness stop you. . . . don’t let anything stop you. Take God at His Word. . . . He is faithful.

Questions to Share:

1. Have you ever considered reading the Bible together out loud as a family?

2. What benefits can you see which would come from a systematic reading of Scripture?

3.  Is this something to which you would consider committing?