The other day I had the privilege of holding my son during worship in our Sunday evening service. I used to hold him regularly during worship at our former church, but, since moving to pastor our own I have been leading most of it myself and wasn’t able to hold him. It was such a delight! At times he would lean his head into me so that his ear was up against my mouth. I’m not the most talented singer, but, my year and a half old son doesn’t care—he’s my biggest fan. At one point he began just singing gibberish trying to emulate the sounds his dad was making. Then, as I was lifting my hands I opened my eyes and saw him holding his arms up copying me. He had no clue what he or I was doing. But, he knew if dad was doing something it must be something worth doing.

I spent 5 years as a youth pastor and honestly the most frustrating thing for me was when spiritually retarded parents, whose own relationship with God were a half-hearted and emotionless Sunday experience, would drop their kids off and look at me like, “Here you go. Fix ‘em.” Out of the 168 hours that are in each week I only got to spend a couple of them with the students who spent much of that time being influenced at home.

The Bible says in 1 Kings 22:52 about King Ahaziah that “He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because he walked in the ways of his father and mother…who caused Israel to sin. 53 He served and worshiped Baal and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.”

The reality is that our children will learn a lot about how or how not to serve God based on observing their parents. Obviously each person is accountable for their own choice and I have known many people who serve God despite ungodly upbringings and vice versa. But, as I held my son in my arms with his hands raised he taught me that I have already begun to teach him about being a Godly little man before his mind can even understand a single theological thought. Take advantage of your time and don’t forget that it’s never too late to start living a life of inspiration!