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“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them” Deuteronomy 4:9 (NIV).

Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi once said that winning wasn’t the main thing; it was the only thing. For those of us who name Jesus Christ as our lord and savior, His death, burial, resurrection, and return isn’t just the main thing; its the only thing. We cannot forget that fact.
Another fact we cannot forget is that God told us that we have a responsibility to teach our children and grandchildren in Deuteronomy 4:9. Pastor Doug Fannon pointed out that “The fact is, we are but one generation away from being a completely pagan nation. Each generation is responsible for reaching the next.” (Being a Bold Witness by Doug Fannon 11/11/2019, at www.sermoncentral.com)

We live in a culture that buries and distorts the only thing until it’s not even recognizable as the main thing. We have bunny rabbits, Easter baskets, colored eggs, chocolate, new clothes, spring fashions, and lots of other good things to occupy our attention. But without the only thing, we have nothing.

On Easter Sunday, we celebrate and commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it’s up to us to make sure our children and grandchildren know that this is not just the main thing, it’s the only thing. Without it, nothing else matters.

My parents were very devout Catholics. They made a big deal out of the week before Easter. We waived palm branches and drew pictures of Jesus on a donkey on Palm Sunday; we commemorated the Last Supper by reenacting communion on Holy Thursday. I had this little statue of Jesus in my bedroom watching over me every night as I slept. I remember that on Good Friday, my mom would have me solemnly put Jesus in a shoebox and pack him away in a closet. She would tell me that Jesus died and was buried so that I would have my sins forgiven. Then, with great fanfare, we would liberate him from the shoebox and return him to his rightful place watching over me on Easter Sunday. Putting Jesus in a shoebox seems like a silly thing now, but after 60 years, I still remember that it was me and my sins that caused Jesus to die, and that it was God’s power and Jesus’s love for me that wouldn’t let him stay that way.

You don’t have to be an expert in anything; you just have to be faithful and willing to follow orders from headquarters (Deut 4:9).

God did not call you to be perfect; he called you to be faithful. He will be there to help you, as you teach your children well.