The following excerpt is taken from a letter written by John Knox in 1557, before leaving Scotland to go into exile in Geneva.
This part of the letter is about the family head’s duty to read and discuss the Bible with his family:
- Dear brethren.
- If you have the desire to come.
- You must dedicate yours yourself to the study of the Book of the Lord your God; do not let any day pass or lack the comfort received from God’s mouth.
Open your ears and he will speak of things pleasing to your heart; do not close your eyes, but look carefully at how much of the inheritance remains in your Father’s will, that your tongues learn to praise mercy mercy has called them from darkness to life. Don’t do it so quietly that you don’t have any witnesses. No, brethren, God commands you to rule your own homes in your true fear and according to His Word.
In your homes, I mean, in some cases you are bishops and kings; his wife, children, employees, and family are his bishop’s office and responsibility, you will be asked with all the care and diligence you have instructed in the true knowledge of God, as you have studied to sow virtues and suppress dependence. That is why, I say, we must make them partakers of reading, exhortation and common prayer, which I would like to do in all homes, at least once a day.
But above all, dear brethren, study to apply what the Lord commands in your life, and then make sure that you will never hear or read the Word of God in vain, and allow these same spiritual exercises to take place in your home.