February 2

Deuteronomy 6:6‑7
IN Old Testament times the Jewish home presented the highest type of family affection and child-training that was known in the world. Paganism at its best never reached anything like the Jewish ideal as to this. But it is in the Christian home that we see the fullest development of family privilege and responsibility. There Christ is ever to have the pre-eminent place; and husband, wife, parents, children, masters, and servants are all called upon to live and behave toward one another as in His holy presence and as seeking His glory in all that they do (Eph. 5:2222Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. (Ephesians 5:22) to 6:9). To this end, there should be the daily reading of the Scriptures and prayer in the family circle, when all together bow before the Father above and commit one another to His loving care. But besides this, the young are to be trained in the ways of the Lord and the knowledge of His Word. Where parents leave this to the Sunday School or other outside activities, they are unfaithful to the responsibility God has put upon them. Nothing can make up for lack of Christian nurture at home.
“I supposed I knew my Bible,
Reading piecemeal, hit or miss,
Now a bit of John or Matthew,
Now a snatch of Genesis,
Certain chapters of Isaiah,
Certain Psalms (the twenty-third),
Twelfth of Romans, First of Proverbs—
Yes, I thought I knew the Word!
But I found that thorough reading
Was a different thing to do,
And the way was unfamiliar
When I read the Bible through.
You who like to play at Bible,
Dip and dabble, here and there,
Just before you kneel, a weary,
And yawn through a hurried prayer.
You who treat the Crown of Writings
As you treat no other book—
Just a paragraph disjointed,
Just a crude, impatient look—
Try a worthier procedure,
Try a broad and steady view;
You will kneel in very rapture
When you read the Bible through!”
—Amos P. Wells.