How Family Tales Shape Our Faith

By Dean Collins

Fall has arrived, which usually means that family gatherings will be increasing soon. With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner, you may find yourself in crammed or spread out spaces with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and other extended family members for a meal. 

Gathering with family is sometimes a mixed bag. On one hand you love seeing family members you haven’t been around for a while. On the other hand, there is the anxiety of trying to prevent old conflicts from being revisited. And of course, current political conversations might generate some tension. But one thing that always happens is the telling of the old familiar stories. It might be grandpa or your cousin Edna who tells the same story again and again and may even tell it twice before you serve the pumpkin pie! For some of us, we may be the ones who are the old folks telling the same old stories for the fifteenth time.

When you start reading Deuteronomy 1, you quickly realize that Moses is telling the same story again. But the retelling of the same story isn’t because Moses was old and couldn’t remember that he had already told the story. Moses recounted the journey from Egypt through the wilderness as a reminder of two things: God always keeps his promises and the Israelites consistently failed to obey God’s instructions.

Moses had seen God deliver the Israelites in a final battle before they entered the promised land. Moses knew that he would not be the one to lead God’s children into the promised land. He allowed his frustration with the Israelites’ complaining about having no water get the best of him and decided to solve their problem on his own instead of obeying God. The result was that God allowed Moses to see the promised land from a distance, but he would not allow Moses to lead the nation to their new home. Disobedience has consequences.

There was no one more suited to tell the story of the journey from Egypt to the promised land than Moses. We must remember that the ones listening to the story were the generation that followed their parents who left Egypt 40 years before. We must always tell our stories to the generations that follow us so that they can learn from our mistakes and hopefully avoid repeating them.

Throughout Deuteronomy, Moses does two things. He recalls the journey from Egypt to the promised land, and he restates the commandments of God so that the current generation understands what they are to do and not do. Moses introduces some new requirements to make sure that the nation understands God’s covenant so that they can keep their end of the covenant.

While it may be a new behavior for us, we need to make sure that when we retell all the old funny stories of our childhood and recall our family memories, we also include stories of how God has provided for us. And at the right moments, maybe we also share that we are not perfect but have made mistakes in our faith journeys. There is no need to retell every detail of every mistake, but our children and grandchildren can learn important lessons from us that may increase their determination to walk with God instead of relying on themselves. Our children and grandchildren already know we are not perfect. When we share our stories of how God provided for us, corrected us, protected us, and even now guides us, their faith will be strengthened, and they will have a good example of how to live faithfully and probably even do a better job with the next generation.

Father, you have been faithful in every generation. Thank you for loving us, guiding us, correcting us, and allowing us to be a part of your family. Give us the courage to share our stories of your faithfulness with our children and grandchildren, that they might find strength and hope to live their lives in obedience to your plans for them. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
Deuteronomy 1:1-46 ESV

Photo by Askar Abayev
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