🏡 Family Devotional — Day 222

Our Family’s Greatest Treasure Is Knowing God

📖 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
—John 17:3 (NKJV)

After Jesus finished preparing His disciples for His departure, He lifted His eyes toward heaven and prayed. He knew that He would soon be betrayed, arrested, falsely accused, and crucified. Yet His prayer began with the Father’s glory, the work He had come to accomplish, and the eternal life He gives. Then Jesus explained what eternal life is: “That they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” 

Eternal life includes living forever, but it is more than endless existence. Eternal life is knowing God. Jesus was speaking of a genuine relationship with God, not merely knowing religious facts. Learning biblical truth is essential because we cannot know God while rejecting what He has revealed about Himself. Yet a family can know many facts about God without every member personally knowing Him. We may attend church together. We may pray before meals. We may own several Bibles. We may listen to Christian music, discuss sermons, and use familiar Christian language. Those practices can help our family grow, but they cannot save anyone.

Each person must personally receive Jesus Christ through repentance and faith. Parents cannot transfer salvation to their children through family heritage. Children do not become Christians merely because they grow up in a Christian home. A husband’s faith cannot save an unbelieving wife, and a wife’s faith cannot replace her husband’s need to respond to the gospel. John wrote, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12, NKJV). Our family can teach, pray, model faithfulness, and proclaim the gospel. But every person must receive Christ. This means family devotions should never become a performance in which we try to prove we are a godly household. The purpose is to know God. We open Scripture because He has spoken. We pray because through Christ we can approach the Father. We confess sin because God is holy and merciful. We worship because He alone is worthy. We discuss His Word so that every member of the family can understand who He is, what He has done, and how He calls us to live.

Jesus called the Father “the only true God.” Our world offers many beliefs about God. Some people worship other gods. Others believe that every religion leads to the same destination. Still others reject God altogether while placing their confidence in humanity, possessions, power, pleasure, or personal freedom. But Jesus did not say that eternal life consists of knowing whichever God a person chooses. There is one true God. He created all things, and He has revealed Himself through His Word and His Son. We do not have the authority to reshape Him according to our preferences. We must teach this truth with both clarity and humility. We should never mock people who believe differently or treat them as though they possess less value. Every human being is created in God’s image and needs the salvation offered through Christ. At the same time, love does not require us to pretend that contradictory beliefs are equally true.

If Jesus alone died for our sins and rose from the dead, pointing people toward Him is an act of love. False gods are not limited to statues or temples. Families can build their lives around idols without using religious language. Success can become an idol when achievement matters more than obedience. Money can become an idol when financial security becomes the foundation of our peace. Sports can become an idol when practices, games, and recognition consistently receive greater devotion than God. Education can become an idol when intelligence and credentials become the measure of a person’s worth. Family itself can become an idol when preserving relationships or appearances matters more than faithfulness to Christ. Even comfort can become an idol when every decision is governed by avoiding inconvenience, sacrifice, or difficulty. Good gifts become idols when they receive the trust, devotion, and authority that belong to God.

A family may say that Christ comes first while its schedule, spending, conversations, and decisions reveal that something else holds the central place. This does not mean every family must arrange its life in the same way. Scripture allows freedom in many practical matters. But all families should honestly ask what their daily choices teach about what they treasure most. Children learn from more than formal instruction. If parents say that knowing God is most important but continually neglect His Word because life is busy, children notice. If adults speak about trusting God but every unexpected problem produces panic, children notice. If a family attends church while cruelty, dishonesty, or unforgiveness governs the home, children notice. If parents demand repentance from children but never confess their own sin, children notice. This does not mean parents must demonstrate flawless faith. No parent can do that. It means children should see an honest faith that returns to Christ. They should witness adults confess sin, seek forgiveness, pray through uncertainty, receive correction from Scripture, and continue trusting God when life does not unfold as expected. 

A child does not need parents who pretend to know everything. A child needs parents who know where to turn when they do not. Knowing God becomes especially precious when a family faces circumstances it cannot explain. There may be an illness the doctors cannot quickly resolve. Income may decrease while expenses increase. A relationship may become strained. Grief may enter the home. A carefully prepared plan may fail. At such times, we may ask God why. Scripture does not promise that every answer will be given during this life. Our family may not know why something happened, how long it will continue, or what God will do next. But we can know Him. We can know that He is holy and never acts wickedly. We can know that He is wise and never makes mistakes. We can know that He is faithful and never breaks His promises. We can know that He is sovereign and has not lost control. We can know that He loves us because He gave His Son for sinners. Sometimes knowing God must sustain us when knowing the reason remains beyond our reach. 

The earliest Christian families lived among people who worshiped many gods. Religious practices were connected to homes, trades, public celebrations, and family traditions. Refusing to honor local gods could create tension with relatives and neighbors. Imagine a household in which one or more family members had recently believed the gospel. They removed idols from their home and stopped participating in ceremonies they had once considered necessary. Their neighbors might have questioned them. Relatives might have accused them of abandoning family traditions. Their children would naturally have questions. Why do we no longer join that ceremony? Why does our family worship differently? Why do some people seem angry with us? The adults could explain that they had come to know the only true God through Jesus Christ. They were not merely exchanging one set of rituals for another. They had been brought into a relationship with their Creator. Christ had died for their sins and risen from the grave. The idols they once feared could neither hear nor save. Their family now belonged to the living God. Their faith needed to become part of ordinary family life. Children would hear Scripture read in the home. Believers would gather for prayer and instruction. Questions could be answered. Sin could be confessed. Those who suffered could be helped. The church became a larger household in which families learned to follow Christ together. Our families still need that community.

Parents have the primary responsibility to teach their children diligently, but they were never intended to fulfill every spiritual role alone. Children and teenagers benefit from seeing faithful believers of different ages and backgrounds follow the same Lord. The church should reinforce what is taught at home, and the home should help children examine everything by Scripture. Christian parents must also guard against trying to manufacture faith through pressure or appearance. A child can learn to repeat expected answers without understanding them. A teenager may behave correctly to avoid conflict while privately remaining unconvinced. Adults can become so afraid of a child’s questions that they answer with anger instead of patient instruction. But forced words are not the same as faith. Families should make room for sincere questions. We can search Scripture together, seek help from mature believers, and admit when an answer requires further study. At the same time, honest questions should not become excuses for ignoring clear truth. Every member of the family must be willing to receive what God has revealed, even when His answer confronts personal desires. Knowing God also protects a family from placing too much spiritual weight upon one person. A parent, grandparent, pastor, or teacher may have a strong influence, but no human being can replace Christ. People can fail, move away, become ill, or die. Churches can change. Relationships can be disrupted. Those losses may be painful, but access to God does not disappear. Through Jesus Christ, every believer can know the Father. 

Our family’s greatest treasure is not an impressive home, financial security, academic success, strong relationships, perfect health, or the appearance that we have everything together. Those things can change quickly. God does not change. The greatest gift of eternal life is not simply that our family may be reunited in a perfect place after death. That hope is precious, but it must be stated carefully. Eternal life is promised to those who personally belong to Christ. Our ultimate hope is not merely that we will remain a family forever. We hope that every member of our family will know God through His Son and dwell in His presence. Knowing Christ as a family means more than building a household around Christian activities. We seek to know the living God. We teach His Word truthfully. We pray for each person to receive Christ personally. We remove idols that compete for His place. We trust His character when we cannot understand our circumstances. And we remember that the greatest treasure God gives us is Himself.

Prayer:
Father, thank You for sending Jesus Christ so that sinners may be forgiven and know You. Help every member of our family personally repent, believe, and receive Your Son. Keep us from mistaking church attendance, family tradition, religious language, or outward behavior for eternal life. Show us anything that has taken the place of trust and devotion that belong to You alone. Teach us to speak truth with humility and love. Make our home a place where Scripture is received, honest questions are welcomed, sin is confessed, and faith is lived sincerely. When we cannot understand our circumstances, help us rest in the character You have revealed. May knowing You become our family’s greatest treasure. In Jesus’ name, amen.