New Endeavors

We’ve undertaken new endeavors here at the Barton household in 2022 as a family: reading through the New Testament over the course of a year. (Thanks to the pastor at church who did all the leg work of finding plans and printing them and making them widely available at the beginning of the year.) It’s the first foray for our girls into any kind of a regular reading plan, and by far the most formal family devotions we’ve ever done. The growing pains for all of us have been real – I, for one, even after years of reading, didn’t fully comprehend just how much a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament aids in comprehending the New Testament – but all in all it’s been going fine. 

We’ve been through Mark and Acts, and are now halfway through Hebrews. I’ve noticed in myself a shift in urgency since we’ve made the transition to Hebrews. It’s not that I didn’t care how much they learned or understood from the historical narratives we had previously read; I’m not sure I could be any more invested in my children knowing who Jesus is and what He did while He was on earth, and understanding why He lived and died. Much of the Gospels and Acts feels, to quote one of my children, “farfetched……but that’s what happens when God comes.” Perhaps my experience is unusual or out of the ordinary; when I think of the parts of the Bible that have impacted my faith and my life more than others, the Gospels don’t come to mind. Hebrews, however, does, and I think that’s where the additional weight or importance comes in.

I know the difference that Hebrews has made for me personally. I know the encouragement that’s come from these words, the way they have strengthened my faith, and enabled me to carry on in hard moments. It’s so much more than an intellectual knowledge. I don’t know when my kids will need that strength, but I do know it’s inevitable. When it seems as though the pillars of the earth have been shaken, I want to know that I’ve done everything I could to give them the tools and resources to hold fast, knowing that it’s Christ who anchors both them and me.

It would be easy to get caught up in this effort, to let fear drive me, and be anxious and worried about whether I’m doing enough. “Success” – where they turn when life is hard – isn’t really up to me though. It’s up to me to give them the knowledge and train them well, but salvation and perseverance are of the Lord alone. Instead of anxiety and fear, I’m choosing to lean into the urgency and weight that I feel, and let it spur me on to consistency, to dedication, to effort, but also to trust that the Lord, who saved me and secured me, will save them and secure them as well according to His will.