“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:5-8
My husband Nate always puts our son to bed. It’s their favorite time of day. I love hearing their voices upstairs as Charles settles down. It reminds me of special times with my dad and mom before bed growing up.
Until I was a teenager (when we switched to mornings), we shared family devotions in the evenings. We knew most of the stories in the Bible by the time we were preteens. Once we did Character Sketches that had animal stories and Bible stories in them. Usually we just read chapters from the Old or New Testament. For some reason the time we read Judges sticks in my mind (probably the bizarre stories – no joke!).
We would lay on the carpet in our pajamas, listening to Daddy’s soothing voice. Then he would pray with us and tuck us in bed.
Why read the Bible like that to kids? Wouldn’t they get bored?
My parents believe that God’s Word is living and active. It’s more than just a book of stories. They devoted themselves to reading and quoting the Bible to themselves and to us. It shaped our lives.
So many today have little framework for their faith. Are we raising up a generation that has no context for God’s work in history and in the church, or are we filling our children with clear, relevant truth straight from the Bible? My parents’ example convinces me that God’s word isn’t just an ancient, worthless book.
Read it!