Here is God's simple plan: by his grace, a living testimony for truth will never die out in the land. The Lord's beloved people are to pass down their witness of the gospel and the covenant to their children. And their children to theirs. And on it goes.

This is our first duty. We start at home. Listen to me: any preacher who doesn't begin his ministry in his own house is a bad preacher. Yes, we must reach the lost wherever they are. Yes, we must search the highways and the back roads. But home has the first claim on us. And woe to those who flip God's priorities upside down!

Teaching our children is a personal duty. We cannot farm it out to Sunday school teachers or other well-meaning helpers. Oh, they can assist us. But they cannot carry our sacred obligation for us. There are no substitutes, no stand-ins allowed in this work—proxies and sponsors are wicked devices in this case! Mothers and fathers must do what Abraham did: command their households in the fear of God and speak to their children about the wondrous works of the Most High.

This is natural duty. Who else should care for a child's soul more than those who gave that child life? To neglect the spiritual instruction of our children is worse than brutish. Even beasts care for their young!

Family faith is essential. Essential for the nation. Essential for the family itself. Essential for the church of God. By a thousand plots, false teaching covertly advances in our land, and one of the most powerful means for resisting its inroads sits neglected in our hands: teaching our children the faith.

Parents, wake up! Do you see what's at stake? And yet, what a pleasant duty this is! To speak of Jesus to our sons and daughters. To see their eyes light up with understanding. And how often God honors this work! How many children have been saved through the faithful prayers and teaching of their parents!

May every home that reads these words honor the Lord. And may his smile rest upon you.