For me two passions collide. I have worked with children my entire adult life and not always by choice. It seems that God has a design in my life and has put these two passions together. I have a love for the word of God instilled by my first pastor John when I was in my early twenties. Then as I look at the things that God has had me do I have been working with children in churches and schools for over two decades both in the Untied States and in the Philippines as a missionary.
Now I am going to get personal. For the most part the church is failing our children when it comes to teaching them the word of God and specifically to read His word. In our churches we play with scripture a little. Maybe have children memorize some verses on occasion and or tell them stories from our Bible story books. We sing them songs like read your bible pray every day and you'll grow grow grow. We might tell them that they should read the Bible but we never teach them to do this in a systematic and meaningful way.
The first question we need to ask ourselves is what are we ourselves as adults doing with the word of God in our own lives? Are we engaging in the word of God on a daily basis ourselves because if we are not we certainly can not teach our children to do what we are not ourselves doing. I am not trying to guilt people into reading their Bibles. We know that we need to read our Bible and not just as a means to check this off our to do list as good Christians.
In my next series of posts I will share my journey into meaningful ways God has shown me to engage with Him in His Word. I will also share how I have searched for years to find ways to get my students to read their Bibles and engage God in a meaningful manner. The things which I will share are not from an easy road but through prayer and perseverance what God has showen me and I will allow my students to also share their experiences. We are on a journey together to train our children in the way they should go.
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