FOCUS OF THE MONTH: UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE

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Reading Scripture together is an invaluable spiritual activity for discipling your children. So this month, we are going to be guiding you through several steps you can take to help make reading Scripture second nature to your children. For week one, ask the first question over an unhurried meal. Let the children think about it and then offer their own answers. The children should talk more than the parents. Throughout the week, offer the different reasons highlighted and let the children discuss them. (Parents, read through the relevant Bible passages in advance.) Challenge the children to look up other verses addressing the question. Do the same for the following questions each week for the month.

QUESTIONS TO HELP YOUR FAMILY GROW

Week One:

Why did God give us the Bible?

Read: Luke 4:4, John 1:1-4

• So we would all have access to His plans for us all the time.
• So we could tell the difference between right and wrong, between His ways and the ways of the world and the devil, even when life gets complicated.
• So we would have hope for the future, in His Coming Kingdom.

Week Two

What is the Bible all about?

Read: Psalm 105:1-5 and 105:45, Luke 24:25-27

• The Bible tells us about God and ourselves— He is our Creator, and created us to live in communion with Him. The Bible tell us how this purpose was originally destroyed by sin, and how God planned to rescue us and fulfill His promises, making a life lived in unity with Him possible once again.
• The Bible records the story of how Jesus came to earth to save us—the most important event ever to occur in history.
• The Bible tells us about our need to receive Christ individually, and how to do so (John 3:16).
• The Bible gives us all the guidelines we need to live a life following Christ here on earth until He comes again.

Week Three:

Why is it so important for us to read the Bible?

Read: Mark 13:31, John 5:37-39, Hebrews 4:12

• The Bible is God’s Word to us. Jesus is also the Word. When we read the Bible,we are hearing what Jesus is saying to us, and experiencing His fellowship with us the same as though we had been alive when He lived on earth, only more so.
• The more we read the Bible, the more we understand what God would want us to do in every situation, and therefore it is much easier for us to obey His commands immediately when He speaks to us, because we will remember how He has given the same instructions before in His Word.
• When we read the Bible, we get to know God better, and fully appreciate what He has done for us. This helps us to spread the Gospel to others, since we know the whole story.
• God’s Word is a Living Word—there is always more knowledge and more help to be found, every time we read the Scriptures. Even if you have read a verse a hundred times before, when you read it in a new situation, it will speak to you in a new way, as God helps you in your new situation through His Word.

Week Four:

How can we make Scripture a complete part of our lives?

Read: Psalm 119:97-104

• Read it every day.
• Pray while reading the Bible during private personal and/or family devotions. The Bible is one way God talks to us, so when we pray while reading Scriptures, we are
  having a real conversation with God!
• “Hide them in your heart” (Psalm 119:11)— memorizing Scripture is not like memorizing facts for a test. It is more like naturally and loyally remembering a special school song or family tradition or that remark your grandmother always made when something happened (and after a while you got to where you would all say it before she did!)—it is a sign of our commitment to and love for a particular way of life—life with God, and a constant reminder that we now think differently, as children of God. We should try to memorize enough Scripture to where we can remember a good passage to help us (or someone else) when a situation comes up and we don’t have a Bible handy.
• But the more we read the Bible, the more we will remember what it says without even having to try to memorize it.
• When we don’t understand something the Bible says, we should discuss it with others who believe in Jesus—listening closely to our pastor’s sermons in church is also a helpful part of this—and talk to God about it in prayer. God helps us to grow in wisdom by sometimes saying things in a way that makes us have to think and help each other to understand; that way, we become the kind of people who are wise and hard-working and compassionate toward each other in a Godly way—and that is the whole point of the Bible and everything else God does, to make us into His kind of people, to live with Him forever!