Teach Me Jesus Thursdays: To Love the Word

“What books do you want to pack to read this weekend while we are away?” I asked my youngest.

“My Bible.”

“Are you sure that’s all? Don’t you want at least one other book to read at bedtime?”

“No. Just my Bible. I have a long way to go, Mom. I’m only on page 4!”

We gave my youngest his first “real” Bible for Christmas. Because his reading has improved over the past six months, I thought he might be ready for one. Then he asked me to add a Bible to his Christmas wish list and I knew it was time.

As a child, I remember being overwhelmed with my first Bible. It seemed confusing with its big words, lengthy pages, and complicated story lines. I didn’t understand until college how all the books of the Bible fit together and related to one another. My hope is that my own children might have a different experience.

For my children, it has been my prayer since they were born that they would grow to love the word of God. I want them to have a passion for it, desire to learn and understand it, trust it and live by it. Like Jeremiah, I want them to take great joy in feasting on the word, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).

I thought I’d share today a few thoughts on helping our children love God’s word:

1. Help them see that the Bible is one big story: From the very beginning, teach your children that the Bible is God’s story of redemption. It is not a series of disjointed books that have no relationship with one another. Rather, all of Scripture is about Jesus. The Old Testament points to our need for Jesus and the New Testament reveals what he came to do. For my kids, we went through The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name when they were little to help them see this grand story of redemption where every story whispers the name of Jesus. Another Bible for little ones that I’ve heard friends recommend is The Gospel Story Bible: Discovering Jesus in the Old and New Testaments. In our church’s Sunday school, we are using the Gospel Project with the children. This is another great resource for helping children see Jesus on every page in Scripture.

2. Help them become familiar with the Bible: The more one understands the contents of the Bible, the less confusing it becomes. When my oldest received his first Bible, I went through it and highlighted passages of Scripture he had already memorized and stories he was familiar with. I then stuck a little tag on those pages so he could easily find them. For those first few months of having his Bible, he went directly to those tags and read those passages. Learning the books of the Bible is also important for children. If you missed my post on ideas for doing that, click here.

3. Read with and to them: As homeschoolers, we are able to read Scripture aloud everyday and multiple times a day. No matter a families schooling situation or schedule, it’s important to find a time of day where you can regularly read Scripture with your children. Perhaps at mealtime or as part of a bedtime routine. Go through a particular book of the Bible, a chapter or two at a time. Since my youngest has received his new Bible, I’ve had him follow along with his Bible while I read aloud from another one. This helps him get familiar with where chapters and verses are, and also helps with his reading skills. I got him an NiRV version of the Bible which is a version designed for young readers. The sentences are shorter and except for names and places, the words are not too advanced. This school year, we’ve been using David C. Cook Journey through the Bible as a resource as we’ve gone through the Old Testament. It has pictures, maps, and additional historical information about the passages we’ve read. The kids enjoy looking at modern day images of the sites where the stories in the Bible took place.

4. Memorize Scripture: We all know how amazing children’s memories are. Even from a very young age, children can learn and memorize Scripture. Start by having your child learn a verse each week. As they grow, have them learn larger sections and even chapters of Scripture. Music is a wonderful aid to memorization. We are using the Seeds of Character
cd to learn Psalm 1 right now. We also have used Steve Green’s Hide Em in Your Heart - Praise & Worship for Kids. Additionally, my children do copywork to help them learn a passage. One site I like to use for copywork is Hubbard’s Cupboard.

5. For a fun activity to help children see how God’s word is the source and foundation for their life, read this post I wrote last year for When You Rise.

I would love to hear some of your thoughts and ideas on encouraging our children’s love of God’s Word!