DEAR DAD, if you read the Bible at night to your kids but don't spend time with them during the day, close the Bible and spend time with them. I know that sounds bad, especially coming from a pastor. But reading the Bible to your children doesn’t make you a good parent anymore than going to church makes you a good Christian.
There are no substitutes for spending time with your kids. So, if you’re distracted during the day (week, month, year) with things that are less important than they are, and try to make up for it with a spiritual activity that seems important to them, you’ve only established that neither they nor God’s Word are most important to you.
Don’t get me wrong. Reading the Bible daily is, I’m convinced, critical to our Christian walk and life. I’m just not convinced that reading is more important than being. The word of God is foundational and central to our lives, not primarily as information to read, explain, and memorize, but as the life, light, love, power, and grace of God that transforms, convicts, equips, renews, guides, and empowers us to be men who live for God’s glory.
Therefore, read the Bible to your children as the outflow of your love toward Jesus and toward them. Teach them there is nothing more important than the Bible, God’s inspired Word, the revelation of His heart and will in Jesus Christ. But read and teach them the Bible as the most important part of spending time with them, because you can teach the Bible from a distance, but you can’t be a dad from a distance.
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