God's Increase

"For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God" (2 Corinthians 9:12).

When you discover the joy of homeschooling your own children, God usually gives you a burden to teach other children about His love, too. Many homeschooling parents can be found teaching children other than their own in Sunday school, mid-week church youth groups, vacation Bible school, or backyard Bible clubs. Maximizing your efforts by first teaching a Bible lesson to your own children and then sharing it with others only makes sense. Like the young boy who brought the two small fish and five loaves of bread to Jesus (Matthew 14:19), God is able to take the lesson you prepared for your family and use it to bless many more children as well.

Many times while Jesus was teaching His disciples on Earth, His message blessed more than the 12 chosen men. His parables and sermons not only instructed His faithful followers, but they also taught the same truths to the multitudes who were within hearing distance (Matthew 5-7). The lives of many hurting bystanders were changed, and seeds of hope and faith were planted in their hearts. Even the outcast Gentiles were blessed as they heard and saw the power of God in Christ's miraculous healings and teachings.

You may not realize this fact, but the same Bible story you've taught your children may be waiting to be heard by hundreds of other boys and girls. Whether it's a Bible story about Zaccheus, a topical lesson on salvation, or some aspect of Christian growth, the knowledge you've learned from the Holy Spirit during your study and preparation time is possibly the exact truth needed by the boys and girls in your church or neighborhood. Won't you share that same lesson God has given you for your own children with other young people who desperately need it? "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher" (Romans 10:14)?

Jesus, as I homeschool I see the spiritual needs of so many children from other families. Like the disciples, I don't know how to feed them all. Please, take the Bible lessons I've prepared for my family and use them for Your glory. Help me to be faithful in sharing Your message of love and forgiveness wherever and whenever You give me the opportunity to teach. In Jesus' name, Amen.