Attitude Check
I grew up as the son of a Bible camp director. My backyard was 500 acres with soccer and softball fields, horses, and lots of hiking trails. What made things even better was that for 10 weeks in the summer I would have 100 new friends to play with every week. Through the years I learned a lot of “camp tricks” that counselors used to keep the campers under control. One of those was an attitude check. Inevitably during each new week of camp, a series of episodes would occur that would cause the campers to be in a bad mood. It could be a rainstorm, mosquitoes or bad food. One of the tricks the counselors would use to get the campers out of their bad mood was to yell out, “Attitude Check!” When the campers heard this, they responded by yelling back, “Praise the Lord!” One time was never enough and the counselors would repeat the call again, yelling, “Attitude Check!” and the campers would loudly respond, “Praise the Lord!” And then the call would come one last time with even more vigor, “Attitude Check?” And all the campers would boldly respond, “Praise the Lord!” In almost every situation the mood had been instantly changed.
Attitudes about Devotions
Sometimes we need an attitude check in our homes. What is your attitude about doing family devotions in your home? When you think about doing family devotions, maybe you feel at a complete loss about what to do. Maybe it produces images of trying to corral your entire family for one or two hours where you sit at the kitchen table with a candle burning, reading the Bible together and singing “Kum Ba Yah.” The idea of family devotions terrifies people for many reasons, because the idea of getting together, reading the Bible or singing together is not something many have experienced. You know that no one wants to do it, yet you cling to a small measure of hope that family devotions could actually bring you closer together as a family.
To be perfectly honest, this is by far the most difficult booklet in this series I have written. When we were in discussion at Gospel Light about which booklet should be done first, the devotions project was near the top. I tried floating other ideas, but we kept coming back to family devotions. I even tried finding someone else to write this booklet. Finally, with the deadline approaching, I had no choice but to sit down and begin writing. My wife shared something that served as the final push I needed: “Maybe God wants you to write this booklet so we can get better at doing family devotions ourselves.”
Understand that this material is not coming from an expert. I, too, struggle to find ways to engage in family devotions in our home with our 13-year-old daughter. I grew up in a Christian household but I don’t remember ever having a formal, regular time of family devotions other than at Christmas time before we would open our Christmas presents. While my dad, as you will see in chapter 4, would lead devotions and Bible studies at camp where he served as a camp director, we didn’t have a regular practice of having devotions together as a family at home.
I just don’t have a lot of experience with leading devotions at home, at least not in the typical sense, and maybe that is why God has called me to write this booklet. I am on this journey too, with an authentic desire to grow closer as a family to God through family devotions. Yet, I also have to examine my attitude toward devotions, because I think they can be so much more than an arduous ritual. Do your own attitude check on this topic, and consider a new thing God may want to do in your family. Be open as you read to consider some new ways of having consistent devotional time with your children. Be open to consider a new attitude toward family devotions.
If your children are older, talk with them about their concepts about family devotions, whether you have them or not. Go through some of these questions together after thinking them through yourself.
@Home Questions
- What is your attitude toward doing family devotions? What would you like it to be?
- Did you ever experience family devotions growing up? Describe that experience.
- What is your picture of what family devotions are?
A Challenge of Attitude
I’ll never forget the attitude I had toward church when I was a teenager. It wasn’t pretty. To sum it up, I hated going to church. As a teenager, I was given permission to move my bedroom into the unfinished basement of our home. Even though it had a concrete floor and was always cold and musty smelling, I thought it was heavenly because it was my space. I had my own living room, 8-track AM/FM stereo, and 15-inch black-and-white television that only got four channels using the rabbit ears. The icing on the cake was my king-sized, free flotation waterbed! When I got underneath the covers, that warm waterbed and dark basement made for the perfect sleeping environment.
Sunday mornings, usually after a late night with my friends, were not made for getting up early to go to church. They were a perfect time to sleep in. Yet every Sunday morning, without question, I would hear my mom yell down from the top of the basement steps, “Mark, time to get up and go to church.” I would try to ignore it, but she would persist. And almost every Sunday morning I would respond, “Oh, Mom . . . do I have to go to church?” But there was never a response. She just left the lights on, which was an answer in itself.
I’ll never forget the Sunday that everything changed. I was in my warm waterbed when out of the cold dark air came the cry, “Mark, time to get up and go to church.” I responded as always, “Oh, Mom, do I have to go to church?” Only this time something changed. My mom responded, “No, Mark, you don’t have to go to church.” I couldn’t believe it! I perked up and made her repeat it just to make sure I had heard what she said. “You don’t have to go to church,” she repeated, and I began thinking to myself, There is a God after all! I didn’t have to go to church. I didn’t have to get out of my warm waterbed and make the long trek across the cold basement floor and up the stairs to begin the process of getting ready for church. I didn’t have to . . . I didn’t have to . . . I didn’t have to go to church! And then my mom made a final statement. “That’s right, Mark, you don’t have to go to church, you get to go to church.” And with those words I was had! No response could be given. No comeback would work. With those words, my perspective and attitude had been challenged and changed. “You don’t have to go to church, you get to go to church.”
Maybe your journey toward family devotions needs to begin with this same type of attitude and perspective change. “You don’t have to do devotions, you get to do devotions.” The book of 1 Chronicles describes a situation in which King David instructs the people of Israel to help his son Solomon build a temple where they can honor, worship and glorify God: “David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon. He said to them, ‘Is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not granted you rest on every side? For he has handed the inhabitants of the land over to me, and the land is subject to the Lord and to his people. Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God’” (22:17-19). I love how David motivated them to be devoted; he reminded them of who God is and what God had done for them.
If your children are older and you have never had devotions as a family, you may find that their attitude is that they “have to” have these times rather than “they get to.” Encourage them go through an adjustment process. Maybe a starting point for your family devotions is to remember who God is and what He has done for you. Devotions are not about what you do, but about what God has done and is doing all around you. It is something you get to do with those you love most so that you all can be closer to the God of the universe.
Would you like to know God better? Would you like to know God’s plan and purposes for your life? Would you like to be able to hear God’s voice better? God knows, sees and understands things that you can’t know, see or understand on your own. Wouldn’t you like to get to know Him better? You have been given an opportunity to do that. God has handed this world over to those He created, a world that is big, confusing, overwhelming, complicated and intimidating; yet you have access to the Creator of this world. God is the engineer, designer, builder and chief architect. You can know His perspective and understanding. That’s worth your time and devotion. In addition, God has a plan and purpose for your life that you can know better as you spend more time with Him.
Recently, I was hospitalized with a back injury. I would like to say that there was a specific cause, but there wasn’t. It was a condition that steadily got worse because I refused to acknowledge a problem, and I kept doing all the things I was doing wrong without doing anything to take care of my back. My dad had a severe back condition that I had been told I was preconditioned to have as well. Through the years I had occasional problems with my back, but did I do anything about it? Nope. I began running two to four miles a day, four days a week, which started to bother my back, but did I stop? Nope. Then on a Monday, I played in a golf tournament, even though I woke up with a sore back that morning. My back continued to get worse and I played horribly, but did I stop? Of course not. That night I tossed and turned in pain, but did I take anything for it? Nope.
The next morning, I got on a plane for a four-hour flight to Chicago, which was to be the beginning of a 28-day speaking trip that would take me to four countries. My back continued to worsen, and I had another sleepless night. The next morning I could barely walk, and I had to speak at a conference to more than 1,500 youth pastors. Now I was desperate, so I called the leadership team of the conference and they got me to a doctor who pretty much said, “I can’t do much for you now.” Filled with pain medication, I made it through my keynote message; but just four hours later, I was in the emergency room, which ended up turning into an overnight stay so that a series of tests could be run.
The outcome of the tests was that I had three bulging discs. But did I stop the speaking tour? Nope. Thanks to a lot of prayer and medication, I was able to shuffle, toss and turn my way through the next 28 days. When I got home, my doctor got me into a physical therapist who told me, “Mark, you have a back that could get better or worse. You are teetering on the edge, and what you do next will decide which way this goes. You can have a life of back problems or you can choose to learn how to start taking care of your back. It’s your decision.” Let’s just say that God got my attention, and for the first time in my life I was on a journey to learn and do whatever I needed to take care of my back. I now exercise differently and stretch continually in ways I never thought I would or could do.
In many ways, devotions are like this. You get to a teetering point in your relationship with and understanding of God. Your relationship with God can either get better or worse. You decide. Are you going to do some of the things you need to do so you can know and understand God and His ways better? I must confess that I am really enjoying some of the new exercises I’m learning to do. And for the first time my back is actually getting healthier. Friends, that is what will happen with having devotions. You will find yourself enjoying the new things you learn, and your overall relationship with God will get healthier. As you include your children in your time of devotions, they will have opportunities to grow closer to God, too.
I don’t know how God got your attention or how this booklet ended up in your hands, but maybe it is time for you to look at what you need to do to become a healthier Christian. There are a lot of people who say they believe in God yet don’t know what it’s like to live a healthy Christ-following lifestyle. Is that you? Instead of doing something about it you just keep going through life doing one unhealthy thing after another, and your condition worsens. Would you like to get off that treadmill? Are you ready to explore some new things you can do that will help you become a healthy Christian? This isn’t something you have to do. It’s something you get to do!
@Home Questions
- How have you learned about God and His ways in the past?
- What spiritual exercises do you currently do to become a healthier Christian?
- How much time do you spend a day doing spiritual exercises?
- How would you assess your current spiritual fitness level?
- What will increasing your spiritual health do for your children? What changes might you see in your family?
