Family Worship
This month, I will be sharing snippets from a booklet on Family Worship.
This is one of three booklets from the Family Guidance Series, written by Joel R. Beeke (link below).
As mentioned, over the coming weeks we will go through the book Family Worship by Joel. R. Beeke. The booklet is divided into five chapters, or sections and they are as follows:
- Theological Foundations for Family Worship
- The Duty of Family Worship
- Implementing Family Worship
- Objections Against Family Worship
- Motivations for Family Worship
Summary of “Objections Against…”, as well as “Motivations for…” Family worship.
On page 35, Beeke begins the final two chapters by discussing reasons why families often choose not to engage in family worship. One reason he highlights is that "there is no explicit command in the Bible to have family worship." However, he argues that the scriptural references provided throughout his text (and in earlier blogs) offer sufficient evidence that the Lord desires families to worship Him together and honors those who commit to this practice. Another common excuse is, "Our family doesn’t have time for this." This reason feels particularly personal. While I don't think I have ever outright said, "I do not have time for our family to worship together daily," my lack of action likely speaks for itself. I encourage everyone to read through the book to see the other excuses we make about this topic.
The final section addresses the motivations for establishing a time for family worship, as discussed in section 4 (pg41). This chapter offers numerous reasons for setting aside dedicated time for this practice. Among them are "the eternal welfare of your loved ones, the satisfaction of a good conscience, assistance in child-rearing, the shortness of time, and love for God and His church," each supported by relevant texts and scripture references. It is my belief that many readers might agree that our world would be significantly different if most households adopted this practice.
I have found this book to be insightful and offer many reminders of the importance of family, community and priorities. As stated in the first week, I have not been a model for this, however, it is never too late. The below quote rings true to me, and I hope it does for you too.
“We as heads of households are accountable for the spiritual upbringing of our families. We must do everything that we can to establish and maintain family worship in our homes.” (Beeke, pg.46)