Old Testament
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
6 These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart;
7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
New Testament
2 Timothy 3:14-15
14 But you remain in the things which you have learnt and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learnt them.
15 From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Deuteronomy 6 does not imagine faith as a once-a-week activity. God’s words are to be on the heart, and they are to be spoken in the rhythms of the day: sitting at home, walking along the road, lying down, getting up. The next generation is formed by steady repetition, not by occasional intensity.
Lord, bless parents, carers, godparents, teachers, and church leaders. Give us warmth without sentimentality, and steadiness without pressure. Let children meet Christ not as a demand to perform, but as a friend who tells the truth and keeps them safe.
Paul tells Timothy to continue in what he has learned, remembering from whom he learned it, and that from childhood he has known the sacred writings. Those Scriptures are able to make one “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Faith is handed on through persons, through patience, through words heard over time.
In a distracted age, this is both simple and costly. It asks for ordinary faithfulness: prayers at the table, truth spoken kindly, questions welcomed, forgiveness practised. It also asks the wider Church to carry children as a shared joy, not a private responsibility, so no family is left alone, and no child is unseen.