Life has a way of getting in the way. That's what I'm learning. Lately, it's been time for some serious re-prioritizing at our house. Sweet husband and I have realized that we've allowed several different "good" things to steal time from our family. We've also been reminded that life is short, fragile, and precious. We must make the best use of it for God's glory. Often it takes something life-altering to bring us back to the basics and the realness of why we are placed on this earth. We aren't here for ourselves, but to spread the Good News of Jesus.
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." (3 John 1:4)
This verse comes straight from my heart. Better than diplomas, major league contracts, great careers, or lots of money, I long for this for my children...to know that they are living their daily lives in the truth of God's Word. This has always been our goal as parents. Yet, in the hustle and bustle of life, this particular goal gets the back burner. Life cuts in. There are basketball practices, baseball tournaments, violin practices, friends that spend the night, field trips, vacations, tv shows, birthday parties, and much more. All of it creeps in and we live it. However, "....faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ." (Romans 10:17) In order for my children to walk in the truth, they must hear it - regularly. Yes, they hear it at church. And yes, they hear it in Sunday School or VBS, but first and foremost, they must hear it regularly in our home.
As a result of our re-prioritizing, my husband and I realized that we had let regular family bible study fall way by the wayside. Honestly, we had been very regular in our watching of American Idol or Cardinal Baseball, or Dancing with the Stars, but consistent bible study had gotten the shaft. So this week we decided to talk with the kids, ask their forgiveness for our inconsistency, and commit to a fresh start.
Over the years, we've tried many forms of family bible study to keep things creative and fun. However, now that our kids can all read and sit still, we decided to implement a modified version of something one of our pastors at church suggested. We simply call it "The Five Questions." The idea is to study a passage of scripture from the bible and then ask five simple questions. No extra bible study is needed, no commentaries, no bible dictionaries (although any of those can be helpful - they aren't necessary).
The questions are:
1. What did the passage say? (Retell the passage to solidify learning.)
2. What stood out to you as interesting, exciting, or new?
3. What was difficult or troubling to you? Is something in the passage hard?
4. What does the passage teach about God's character, who He is, or what He expects?
5. How can you apply this passage to your life? Do you need to make changes?
We then end the five questions by forming the passage into prayer.
After modeling The Five Questions at the beginning of the week during family bible study time, we suggested that the kids each try this for their own quiet time from now on. I was a little apprehensive at how well the seven-year-old might do with the idea. But the next morning, I was reminded that God truly blesses our futile efforts. She came to me and asked me if she could use her "regular" bible (not the picture bible) for her quiet time. She's become a good independent reader, so I told her that she could. I suggested that she start in Genesis and work through it a small passage at a time. She read the first 13 verses and came to me with her questions for clarity. These are her answers....
1. "Well, at first everything on the earth was dark. There was nothing but darkness and water. Then (dramatically) God said, "Let there be light!" and there WAS! Then God made all kinds of things, like bushes, and plants, and things with seeds. Oh, and when there was only darkness and water, God gathered the water together and from that there was LAND! And it was all good."
2. "Something that stood out to me was how God gathered all that water into one place! I can't believe He thought of that!"
3. "Something that was difficult was that at first everything was just dark and water, nothing else. You couldn't even see your hand in front of you! I don't think I would like it that dark and wet!"
4. "This shows me that God is very powerful. He can just speak and things just appear. We can't do that."
5. I need to always remember how powerful God is, and that I am not that powerful.
As my seven-year-old spilled out with her answers, I was a mix of emotions. I literally had to contain myself. I was a ball of feelings that included everything from immense joy to incredible shame. I was reminded that we SO underestimate our children and what they can handle. I was overcome with the fact that we had gotten so caught up in worldliness that we had missed months of this kind of learning together. I stood in awe of a God who IS so powerful, yet is so simple a child can understand Him.
God's Word is more than enough. The best thing we can do in our homes is teach our children an incredible love for it. His Word is effective, powerful, sharp, teaching, alive, and God-breathed. If they learn to love it, crave it, and live by it, we could only be so blessed. Everything else is just icing on the cake. It alone will be the water that smooths over the rocks of their lives......
No comments:
Post a Comment