Reading the Bible with the Children You Love

I remember sitting in first-grade reading circle when the letters on the large book on the easel suddenly formed words. Sit, Spot. Run, Jane. Run, Dick.

I could read!

Not long after that, my mother took me to the children’s library in our town to get my very own library card.

From then on I read nearly nonstop. Cereal boxes at the breakfast table. My Brownie and Girl Scout handbooks. “Dear Abby” in the newspaper. Stacks and stacks of library books. But my childhood love of reading didn’t translate into a love of reading the Bible until many years later.

I’m not sure why. The Bible seemed mysterious. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Why didn’t that shepherd guy (there was always a picture of King David as a young shepherd) want the Lord?

Although I had a children’s Bible, no one opened it up with me and said, “Let’s get to know God better.” I’m not faulting anyone. We all do the best we can at the time. My parents took me to church every week. I had dedicated Sunday school teachers. I went to VBS. I heard the stories. I sang in the choir. God managed to get hold of my heart somehow. But I wasn’t firmly rooted. Not for a long time. I needed to know the word of God.

Are you a parent, grandparent, or child care provider? A favorite aunt? An amazing array of Bible storybooks and children’s Bibles awaits you in bookstores and online. In my next posts, I’ll provide some guidelines for choosing the right ones for the children in your life and some tips for using them.

You can read to your children directly from a full-text Bible as well. Have you ever wondered if that can work? Would it hold their interest? Can they understand it? What do you do about the parts that need censoring for a few more years? (The Bible is anything but candy coated!) Here’s a link to an article with fascinating insights to those questions: http://www.truewoman.com/?id=845

Until next time, I pray for all our beloved children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, to understand clearly that God’s words are the path to knowing him and the path to life. It’s never too late to read the Bible, and it’s never too early to start.

Question: Does your family read the Bible aloud?

Visit Diane at http://abibleplace.blogspot.com.

photo: bigstockphoto.com

Comments

Reading the Bible with the Children You Love — 8 Comments

Beth Bence Reinke on February 10, 2012 at 8:58 am said:

Thank you for pointing out the importance of instilling a love for the Word in children when they’re young, Diane.

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Janice D. Green on February 10, 2012 at 1:30 pm said:

I love this post. You are sharing a message that is at the core of what I want to say to children and their families. The Bible has great stories and lessons for people of all ages. It is readable and not so hard to understand. I too had to have that revealed to me after growing up thinking it was too hard to read and understand. With all the Bible translations available today, everyone can read and understand God’s Word.

Bible Gateway is a great place to look at different translations and try them out: http://biblegateway.com.

Janice D. Green
http://honeycombadventures.com

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- Diane Stortz on February 10, 2012 at 8:25 pm said:
  
  Janice, I like biblegateway.com too and use it quite a lot. Thanks for the encouragement; needed to hear that today.–Diane
  
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Amy Parker on February 13, 2012 at 11:36 pm said:

Our church is leading an initiative for families to read through the Bible in a year. They’ve provided reading materials in the bulletins, on the website, and even in apps to make it totally accessible. (www.wochurch.org) So far, we’ve been doing it faithfully (playing catch-up occasionally), and I couldn’t recommend it more. The youngest (he’s seven) sometimes reads, but is usually up moving around the room or playing quietly while we read, and we have been amazed at how much he’s understanding and listening (at least as much as the adults ;). I’ve read through the Bible myself, but reading it as a family is an experience you most definitely want to share.

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- Diane Stortz on February 14, 2012 at 7:59 am said:
  
  Hey Amy, good to hear from you! What your family and church is doing is great! Your kids won’t ever forget doing this. Blessings!
  
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Terri Forehand on February 13, 2012 at 11:48 pm said:

great site, would have loved to be part of this mission. Keep it up.

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- Diane Stortz on February 14, 2012 at 8:02 am said:
  
  Hello Terri, thanks for stopping by!
  
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Jean Fischer on February 14, 2012 at 9:47 am said:

Great post, Diane. It’s so important for parents to share God’s Word with their children.

Congratulations to all CCA authors on the launch of your new blog.

Jean

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