Acts 16:29-31 “29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ 31 They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’”

ESCAPE

I have watched a lot of movies in which the prisoners escape from jail or prison. I love the old film “The Great Escape.” Those guys tunneled out of a German POW camp right under the noses of their captors. It took them months and a lot of digging to do that.

But here in Acts 16, Paul and Silas were not digging or trying to overcome the guards. Nope, they were just singing when an earthquake hit and all the doors opened and all the chains fell off of all the prisoners, not just Paul and Silas. The jailer, thinking that all had escaped, was going to kill himself, but was stopped by Paul. He was literally shaken to salvation.

TEACHING MOMENT

Now, I am not advocating shaking your children until they repent. That would not be very Christ like, would it? But how can we make sure our children know the importance of surrendering their life to Christ? I am sure there is not a parent reading this right now who wants to see their children face eternity without Christ. But sometimes we are too sensitive about telling them the enormous consequences of not coming to Christ.

The best and only way to point your children to Christ is to show them in Scripture. God’s Word is so clear on this subject. If you have been reading them the Word and teaching them the truths of God, then don’t shy away from those passages that clearly show the weight of their sins without Christ will drag them straight to eternal damnation.

This is probably one of the “heaviest” devotions I have written so far. But I am convinced that we need to be begging God for the salvation of our children. We need to be straightforward with them, once they are able to comprehend, about the consequences of spiritual inaction. There is no greater joy than seeing your child surrender their life to Christ. Let’s rejoice in that and covenant together to do our part in this ongoing battle against the Evil One.