Have you ever taken the time to listen to children while their playing?
Well, today I did and I was blessed!! I went home for lunch today and overheard my daughter Jana (7 yrs. old) and my son Josiah (4 yrs. old) playing. They were playing house/school...since they have become accustomed to our house also being school (due to homeschooling). Of course, Jana was the teacher and Josiah (along with a few dolls) was the student.
So, here is some of the conversation that I overheard take place??
Jana: ok, why did Jesus die?
Josiah: for people and their sins
Jana: who has sin?
Josiah: you
Jana: who else?
Josiah: me
Jana: who else?
Josiah: mommy and daddy (cant believe he said that!!)
Jana: everybody, right??
This was an awesome conversation to walk in on!! As I listened to them interact, I was overwhelmed by the understanding that they have for Christ's substitutionary death on the cross for our sins in order to bring us to God.
I know that so much of their knowledge is a result of my wife's hard work and sacrifice. Because of her commitment to work in our home and raise our children. My wife has given up a lot in order to be a "stay at home mom" and a "homeschool teacher"...and as if that wasn't enough...then to coordinate and oversee Vacation Bible School and our year long Sunday evening children's program called KidVenture.
There is no doubt in my mind that our children have benefited from our KidVenture program which is walking them through a catechism. If you are not doing something along these lines, let me encourage you to implement some kind of "questions and answers" with your children. (May I also encourage you to make sure your children are a put of KidVenture this fall on Sunday evenings...it is awesome!!)
here is a website to give you an idea of the kind of thing I am talking about:
http://www.grace.org.uk/faith/childcat.html
Now, just a little more of the conversation between Jana and Josiah:
Jana: ok, what did we learn from our book last night?
Josiah: um...I dont know
Jana: before we went to bed, what did we read about?
Josiah: um...God and Jesus??
Jana: well, yeah...we read about Moses, right?
Josiah: oh yeah
This was the part that really made my day!
You see we have been reading from a book just about every night...except the nights that we are returning home from somewhere and the children fall asleep in the car...we don't dare wake them, but instead we carry them into their beds...thank God for an early night for us...and fall onto the couch or bed!! But on most nights, the last thing we do before bed is read out of a book called "the Jesus Storybook Bible". So, Jana was quizzing Josiah on what we read last night...I was glad she was quizzing Josiah...because honestly, if she was asking me that question...my memory wasn't any better than Josiah's...so I too would have given the old stand-by response "um...God and Jesus??"
But, I was amazed that Jana actually remembered. I have found this time (which is only 10-15 minutes at the most) to be the highlight of my day. I love it when Josiah runs to get the book and says that we cant go to sleep until we have read our story. And may I encourage you to pick up this book. It is excellent!! This book tells the Story behind all the other stories in the Bible. Every story whispers the name of Jesus!!
Listen to these recommendations:
“Sally has captured the plot line of redemption in a children’s story Bible that sings the praise of Jesus and his saving grace on every page, in every story. This is heady theology, often missed in adult preaching and teaching, but fully realized in an age appropriate and attractive form that will delight children and often (at least for me) leave the grown up reader in tears... To discover The Jesus Storybook Bible is to have a unique resource for communicating the gospel to children in all it’s fullness. I hope that every family, and even people without young children, would get a copy of this book just to remind them of what the Real Story of the Bible is all about." - Dr. Timothy Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, NYC
"All too often, children's Bible storybooks isolate individual biblical stories from the message of the Scriptures. Children then learn “Bible stories” much like they learn Aesops’ fables – entertaining stories about what people should and shouldn’t do. The Jesus Storybook Bible is a wonderful exception to this trend. Sally Lloyd-Jones tells the stories of the Bible in a way that seeks to be exegetically faithful to the text while directing children to what adults would call the "redemptive historical" meaning; the whole Bible tells the history of God's purpose to redeem His people through the Savior. Bible stories learned this way do what God intended them to do - they lead people to know and believe the gospel of Jesus. Perhaps the greatest value of this book is how it can train parents (and anyone in a position of teaching) to teach the Scriptures rightly to their children." - Westminister Theological Seminary Bookstore
Remember in Deuteronomy chapter 6, we are commanded to love the Lord our God and then do our part to diligently teach our children to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. We are to teach them of His Ways when we lie down, when we rise up, and as we go!
If you need some more encouragement on the importance of family worship, here are 2 more really good resources for you:
1. "Family Driven Faith" by Voddie Baucham
2. "Family Worship" by Donald Whitney
