The Entire Family is Affected

This morning I was reading Deuteronomy 5. Some of the verses popped out at me as I read them. Check it out.

“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected - even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love Me and obey My commands.

We often talk about reaching parents. We know if we can reach the parents, then there is a high probability that their children will be reached as well. As this verse says...

...the entire family is affected

No one has more influence in a child's life than his or her parents. You could say "as it goes with the parents, so it will go with their children."

If you want to reach children and see them follow Jesus for a lifetime, then you must reach and influence their parents. You influence children by influencing their parents.

These verses even say if parents will love God and follow His commands, that He will pour down His love upon them and their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great, great grandchildren and beyond.

When you reach children you change a life. When you reach parents, you change an entire family.

I am an example of this. Our family knew nothing about God. My great, great grandfather was a criminal. One day he got into a fight with another man who was a criminal. My great, great grandfather ended up murdering the man by stabbing him. He was convicted of the crime and was sent to prison. He was given a life sentence with no parole.