Family visitation is a custom in every congregation. It belongs to the pas­toral care of the church in the families and also for individual and baptized members. Family visitation is not just for your parents or grandparents. It is also for you. Children attend church with their parents on Sunday. They hear the same message from the same Bible. Due to your birth from Christian parents, you have become a baptized member. The message of death and life, curse and blessing, love and gospel, is also for young children. Young people are on the same path as the elderly, namely, on the way to our eternal home. Nowhere does God's Word state that conversion is not necessary for the young. Young and old must be converted in the same manner. It also speaks to you: Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). And the Lord uses His Word and Spirit to effect the new birth.

In regard to holy baptism, question 74 of the Heidelberg Catechism asks us, "Are infants also to be baptized?" It would be worthwhile to meditate on this, memorize it, bow your knees, and ask the Lord to apply and fulfill it in your youth. The Lord Jesus stated, Matthew 19:14, "Suffer little children ... to come unto Me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." He is the Good Shepherd that commanded Peter to feed His lambs. In Isaiah 40:11, we read, "He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom."

There are many more examples in the Bible about the care of the Lord for young people and children in the congregation. In 1 Kings 18:12, Obadiah said, "I fear the Lord from my youth." Samuel and Joseph also served the Lord from their youth. The Lord Jesus even used a child to instruct His disciples, and said, Mark 10:15, "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." That does not mean that children are better than the elderly, but He used them as an example of dependence and devotion. It points to the love and care of Jesus for children and young people. Family visitation for you is a commission of the church in the name of Christ, and that is no small matter, young people. In the preaching on Sunday, the Lord says, Proverbs 23:26, "My son, give Me thine heart."

Read Psalm 78. The Lord is willing that the children hope in God, and that they may not forget the deeds of the Lord. The Lord also works in their hearts. What a blessing it is that you have the opportunity to go to church on Sunday!

Perhaps you don't see it as a blessing and feel that attending church once on a Sunday is plenty. You might even prefer to sleep in on Sunday morning. After being out late the night before, it seems impossible to get up on time. Our lives ought not to be like this. Even during the week our lifestyle should be such that we are able to attend the services. What do we miss when our place is empty? Let us ask ourselves, what do we do in church? There is preaching, singing, and praying. God's Word is preached so we will come to know our sin and misery. We are exhorted to conversion, to leave the way of sin and follow after the Lord. Paul says, "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20). The Lord has no pleasure in our death but that the wicked turn from his way and live. The preaching is a loving invitation to seek the Lord while there is yet time.

We are also admonished to remember our Creator in the days of our youth. In the preaching of God's Word, we are instructed in the only way of salvation. The gospel of the kingdom of God is laid by the door of your young heart. In the preaching, the work of the Father is revealed, that He elects to eternal life; the work of the Son who has bought His people with the price of His precious blood and who has formed a people for Himself to sing His praises; in the preaching, the work of the Holy Ghost is proclaimed also. The Holy Ghost applies the work of Christ to the hearts of sinners. In short, we may say that through the preaching it is openly declared to us that if we keep living in sin, unconverted, the kingdom of heaven will be closed for us. On the other hand, if we through faith belong to Christ, the kingdom of heaven will be opened for us. Young people, do you understand the solemn message of the preaching of God's Word?

Do you understand how wrong it is to purposely leave your place empty in church? The same message is also brought to you. What a blessing if we may see and appreciate the church service as it really is! Let us be honest, if it happens at times that we are bored in church, we keep checking the time, we don't remember much of the sermon, or we don't understand it at all, it is a serious matter. Sometimes we even may fall asleep. And what is worse, there are times when we even try to sleep. It could also be different in our lives, that there is a longing for the Sabbath Day, no desire to go out on Saturday evening, and having a prayer in your heart, "My thirsty soul longs earnestly, yea, faints Thy holy courts to see." Do you ever go to church like this, with the pressing burden of sin, feeling you can no longer live like this – unhappy without the Lord – that the Lord knocks on the closed door of your heart and that you cannot open the door yourself, that you have no strength to break with the power of sin? Then there is a desire to go to God's house with the prayer, "Lord, wilt Thou open my heart?" Then our desire is to hear God's Word. Then the Lord will also give instruction in the house of worship.

We have spent much time with church attendance, and of course I had a reason for that. We have spoken about family visitation, but church attendance is connected with family visitation. It is an extension of the sermon on Sunday. Church attendance, as well as family visitation, is also for the youth in the congregation. What is family visitation and the purpose of it? If you had to respond, you might say, "It doesn't make sense to me. I always leave at those times." This is wrong. We may not boycott it. Make it a point to be home, and regulate your homework so you can be in attendance. The purpose of family visitation is to get a response to the preaching. The office-bearers come in the name of the Lord. That is the nucleus of family visitation, and you belong there. Maybe you say, "Well, my father and mother always talk," or, "I cannot speak because I forget what was said." It can also be that you are afraid to speak because others are present and you are ashamed because your thoughts are occupied with other matters while in church. Do you want to know what the most important thing is in family visitation? That you are honest and say exactly what you feel, without reservation, about your lack of understanding in regard to what is preached. If you do this, despite your reluctance, this will give a bond in the family and the whole congregation. If you only nod "yes" or "no," conversation is impossible and we remain strangers to one another. Everyone's character varies. Some are outgoing and others reserved. But it makes a great difference whether we express our feelings or if we are determined to keep quiet. It has little value if there is only a conversation to pass the time and nothing pertinent is discussed. This is not the purpose of family visitation. It is pathetic in a family if we are strangers of spiritual life, and family visitation has great value if we can penetrate this. Each member of the family has his own accountability.

Before family visitation, find an opportunity to bow your knees and ask the Lord to enable you to speak honestly and openly. There can be much criticism of office-bearers, but we must first ask ourselves, "What can I do to make it profitable?" Never forget that family visitation is done in the name of the Lord. We read in the Bible of the barren fig tree. A certain man planted a fig tree in his vineyard and he looked for fruit. That is also the purpose of family visitation. You must ask yourself, "Will I also be condemned for not having fruit?" If that is so, then it is the work of the office-bearer to ask the Lord, "Let him or her alone yet another year, that I may dig about and dung him or her."

Or is it different in your lives? Does the Word of God bear fruit of faith and communion? Then there will be joy that God's Word has an effectual power in the heart of young people. Especially in the life of a youth there can be many impressions of the worthiness and loftiness of God. Many old people tell us that they had many more impressions about death and eternity in their youth than they do now. I believe this is true. Is there fruit in your young life? We read in God's Word of those who received His Word but also of those who rejected Him that spoke. You belong to either one or the other.