How to Teach Your Children the Bible

Thomas Purifoy, Jr.

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Table of Contents

.Initial Encouragement 2

1. Read the Bible Everyday By Yourself 4

.2. Read the Bible Everyday to Your Children 7

3. Give Your Children Their Own Bibles 10

.4. Have Family Devotions or Worship 12

.5. Memorize Bible Verses 15

6. Listen to Audio Bible Stories 17

.7. Share Your Spiritual Life with Your Children 19

.8. Talk About What God is Doing in the World 22

.9. Study the Bible Regularly 24

.10. Pray for Your Children 27

Closing Thoughts 29

Initial Encouragement

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8 ESV)

If you are reading this, then it’s likely the Lord has put on your heart the importance of teaching your children the Bible. This is what happened to my mother when I was five-years-old. She suddenly realized she needed to be teaching me the Bible, but that she didn’t know much about it herself. As a result, she started attending a local Bible study and began in earnest to understand what was in the Bible so she could teach it to me.

The Lord was gracious to both of us. By the time I was in college, the tables had turned and I was explaining things to her about the Bible. Since then, I’ve made it my goal in life to understand the Bible to the best of my God-given abilities. The more I learn, however, the more I realize how little I truly understand about this unique book and and the eternal truths it contains.

You may sympathize with me. You may look at the Bible and think, “Wow, that’s a really big book. What in the world is in all those pages?” That’s ok. My mother thought that once, too. Or perhaps you know a few things about the Bible, but when you try to explain something to your son or daughter, you don’t quite know how to put it into words, and you don’t really know where it came from. Again, that’s ok.

You can learn to know the Bible well. And you can teach your children to know it even better than you do. The first thing it takes is a willingness to hear the Lord calling you to teach them.

My intent with this booklet is to give you some simple steps and guidance to help you do just that. You may feel the process is a huge mountain to climb; I won’t disagree with you - learning the Bible in order to teach it does take effort.

But it is worth it. Having climbed for over 25 years and stopped often to turn and survey the landscape, I know the Bible provides views of the world that are only available to those who know it well.

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I will pass on a piece of advice from a missionary friend who lived for decades in the Alps: if you’re climbing a mountain, don’t look at the top - just look at the ground in front of you and take one step at time. You’ll eventually reach where you want to be.

One more thing: remember you are not doing this alone. Our Lord likes climbing mountains with His people. He did it with His disciples, stopping often to rest and take a drink as He encouraged them up. He will do the same for you. It makes Him happy when His people study His Word in order to bring their children to Him.

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. (Matthew 17:1-2 ESV)

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1. Read the Bible Everyday By Yourself

And there was an Ethiopian...who...had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. (Acts 8:27 ESV)

The first thing you need to do to understand the Bible is to start reading it. Read it everyday. Read it by yourself. This is the foundation for understanding the Bible.

Sometimes people think they first need to read other books about the Bible. They then spend more time reading those books than reading the Bible itself. This is a mistake. If you want to understand the Bible, you have to be reading it.

If you can, set aside the same time everyday in order to get into a habit. If you do it when your children are around, they will see you doing it. Although this is not necessary, it’s good since they will learn that private reading is important, even if they can’t read themselves. Children learn more by observing than they do by hearing.

How much should you read each day? At least a few chapters, although if you can do more, do it. There are some excellent Bible reading plans available, including the famous one by the Scottish pastor Robert Murray McCheyne (you can look up it and others on the internet). If you are going to choose a plan, choose one that enables you to read through the entire Bible in at most a year.

What kind of Bible should you read? If you are new to reading the Bible, I would encourage you to use a paper Bible instead of a digital one. One of the main reasons for this is that a physical book gives you a spatial context of the books of the Bible. You will instinctively understand which books are near the front and which near the back, as well as how long or short they are. You will be able to flip back and forth if a verse reminds you of something or if one author is quoting someone who came before him.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use a Bible on your mobile device - you should. Download one of the many Bible apps (such as YouVersion) and use it. They are extremely convenient. But when you are at home, try to read a physical Bible.

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What version should you use? I recommend a translation that strives for accuracy with the original languages. The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. It was first translated into English by John Wycliff in the 15th-century, and there have been countless translations since then.

Here are a few good options: the original King James Version (KJV - Bible translations usually go by their initials), the New King James Version (NKJV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New International Version (NIV; but avoid the TNIV), the English Standard Version (ESV), and the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). If you are Roman Catholic, you may prefer the New American Bible (NAB). One way to find a version you feel comfortable with is to choose the first chapter of Genesis and the first chapter of Luke, then read them in different versions back-to-back.

If you are worried about understanding what you are reading, don’t be. You are not the first. Remember the Ethiopian from the book of Acts? Here is what happened to him:

So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” (Acts 8:30-31 ESV)

Ever since the days of the early church, people have been writing explanations of the Bible in order to help others understand what the authors meant. During the middle ages, these commentaries began to be put together with the actual sections of the Bible they were explaining. Today, we know them as Study Bibles.

What is a Study Bible? It is a compilation of notes from Bible scholars listed underneath the chapters of the Bible they accompany. These notes can be quite useful, especially when you get to books like Leviticus or Ezekiel. In fact, a good Study Bible can make these parts of the Bible fascinating. They provide historical background, explanations of the original language, links to other parts of the Bible, and much more.

Every major version of the Bible I listed above has a a good study Bible associated with it. In your daily Bible reading, you will inevitably come across

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passages that make you scratch your head and ask “what could that mean?” If you have a Study Bible, you can glance down and see what someone else says about the verse. I can assure you that you aren’t the first person to wonder about it.

One more thing: after you finish reading the Bible each day, take a few minutes to pray for your children by name that the Lord would bless them with a strong and thorough understanding of His Word. Prayer is very important when it comes to knowing the Bible.

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2. Read the Bible Everyday to Your Children

[The Levites] read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. (Nehemiah 8:8 ESV)

You need to read out loud to your children everyday from the Bible. Just as you are creating a habit of daily Bible reading yourself, you will create the same habit in your children. Gather them with you on a couch or a bed so they can see what you are reading. Sometimes your kids will be happy to do it and sometimes they will complain. That’s normal. Just continue to do it.

One of the questions you may have is whether your children will be able to understand the same Bible you are reading. The answer to that depends on their ages. Although it is always good to let children hear the direct word of God, it is very important that they understand what is being said. Here are some ways to accomplish that.

If you have children under the age of 5, a simple illustrated story Bible is a good place to start. It’s helpful if there are bright pictures and easy-to-understand words. A very engaging series is the Read-Aloud Story Bible in multiple volumes. There is also the popular Jesus Storybook Bible.

By the time a child is 6, I recommend moving into The Child’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos. There are a number of reasons I think this is the best choice for a story Bible.

First, it goes through the entire Bible in depth. Some story Bibles jump from highlight to highlight and leave out major sections of Biblical history. That is not the case with The Child’s Story Bible. It includes all the Judges, the Kings of Judah and Israel up to the captivity, and the return to Israel under Ezra and Nehemiah. The New Testament is quite thorough, including all the Acts of the Apostles up to Revelation. Hearing all of these stories is important, since they provide a structure for all of Biblical history.

Second, The Child’s Story Bible includes simple Bible commentary and questions for children. As it explains the Bible, it provides a child with perspective as to why certain things are happening and what they should be thinking about them. Most people don’t know that Catherine Vos was married to one of the

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greatest Biblical scholars of the 20th-century. She understood the Bible well and actually wrote the book for her own children. This approach makes it easier for you to take what she is saying and talk about it with your family.

Third, The Child’s Story Bible is very Biblical. This may seem like a funny thing to say about a story Bible, but one of the criticisms of story Bibles in general is that they are far removed from the Bible itself. Although it is not the Bible, The Child’s Story Bible strives to remain faithful to the original text, often including direct quotes in many of the stories. It is well-anchored to the Bible, which is very important.

How much of The Child’s Story Bible should you read every day? You will have to judge this based on your children; perhaps less at the beginning and more as they get used to it. The chapters are often sub-divided into smaller sections, so you can just read one of these sections and talk about it. When your children ask you to continue reading, you will know that they are ready for more sections.

After you read a section, make sure that you ask your children questions to see if they understood it. Ask them if they have any questions themselves about it. Simple discussion about the Bible helps children understand that the Bible is a book to be engaged and talked about. It is not just a book of true stories; rather, it is God’s Word that He has spoken to us in order to teach us the truth.

By the time children are 8 or 9, they are probably ready to hear the full Bible. If, however, you never gave them a good story Bible, then it’s possible that you should supplement the real Bible with The Child’s Story Bible. You can move through it much more quickly, but it’s still important to begin to read from the Bible itself.

Where do you begin? Start with either Genesis or Matthew. If your children already have an understanding of the structure of the Bible, then starting at the beginning of the Old or New Testaments doesn’t necessarily matter. You can just move through the Bible a chapter or section at a time. This may be slower going, but that’s ok - take the time to read a section, then talk about it.

You may be wondering about books like Leviticus and Chronicles. Just read right on through them; the laws will be a source of certain discussion. This is where a good Study Bible will come in handy. There are lots of good reasons why

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God gave the children of Israel certain curious laws, but you may need some help explaining why.

A word of caution: the Bible does not candy-coat history. It talks very directly about sin from the beginning, including murder, polygamy, sexual sins, and so forth. Some translations are more euphemistic about what is going on (i.e., Abraham knew Sarah and they had a child...); others are more specific in their language. Feel free to glide over verses if you think your children are too young to hear them.

That said, it is important that children understand from an early age the destructive nature of sin, and the power of God to redeem us from it. You will actually find these discussions quite healthy and interesting. Your children were created to engage the world; the Bible gives them the moral and intellectual compass to do so honestly and effectively. By reading the Bible to them everyday and talking about it, you will be laying the foundation for a lifelong Biblical worldview.

One more thing: just as you prayed for your children in private, when you finish your reading and discussion, take a few minutes to pray out loud for your children by name that the Lord would greatly bless them in their walk with Him, especially in their knowledge of His Word.

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3. Give Your Children Their Own Bibles

And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them.... (Deuteronomy 17:19 ESV)

Once your children can read, give them their own Bibles. In a very real sense, you will be providing them with direct access to God. This is, after all, your primary objective: you want your children to have personal relationships with God that will carry them through their entire lives into eternity.

A personal Bible is an important part of this. It teaches children that they have a major stake in their own spiritual development. They may not realize it in those terms, but the fact of having a real Bible that is actually their Bible begins to impress on them the importance of reading the Bible on their own.

You will likely need to encourage them to read it regularly. Help them find a time to sit down and read a few chapters on their own each day. It could even be the same time you are reading your Bible, or it could be when they first get up in the morning, or right before they go to bed. The importance, again, is trying to form a habit.

Which translation is the right translation? This is not an easy question to answer. It depends on the age and reading ability of your children. If they are good readers, then letting them read the same translation you are reading is probably fine. If they are not as strong, then it may be wise to find a simpler translation; you can take them to a Christian book store and look through the various translations in children’s Bibles using the list in the last chapter as a reference.

A word of caution: there are many companies that try to market Bibles to children with colorful, exciting jackets. These can sometimes include commentary written toward children. Be thoughtful as to whether this will be helpful or not in light of where your child is. I personally prefer a children’s Bible to be just the Bible so that they are not distracted by what other people are saying about it. If they don’t understand something, tell them to come to you first. As their parent, it is your job to explain the Bible to them.

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What if you don’t know what to tell them? Then you have a marvelous opportunity to figure it out. You can use your study Bible, you can ask your pastor at church, you can ask friends, and you can track down other books on the subject.

The point is this: if your children are reading the Bible on their own just as you are reading the Bible on your own, then they will be going through a similar process of engaging the text for what it says. This is a healthy process. It is not always simple or easy, but it is good.

Just as you are praying on your own and praying with them, encourage them to pray on their own after finishing their reading. You can teach them to talk plainly to God, asking Him to help them understand and apply what they just read. He will certainly do it.

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4. Have Family Devotions or Worship

“Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly....It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.” (Exodus 29:38,42, ESV)

When a family gathers together to approach God and worship Him, children see what it looks like to know God within the life of the family. A personal relationship takes time to develop and grows with age and maturity, but a corporate relationship enables parents to guide children into God’s presence using the Bible.

What does this actually look like? There are many ways to approach family devotions or worship. The difference in names even suggests this: some families take a more casual approach and some a more orderly. No matter what is done, there are some key principles and elements that should be a part of it.

It needs to be regular, preferably daily. There is a good reason why the priests of Israel held morning and evening sacrifices at the temple: they were a daily reminder to the people of their need for an offering to cover their sin so they could live with God. Jesus was our sacrifice, but we need a regular corporate reminder of our daily need for him.

Family worship should include the whole family. This may be challenging for some families who have kids going in different directions all the time. There could be older children in your family in a rebellious phase. Some parents may work difficult schedules and leave early or come home late. In spite of that, strive to find a time when everyone can be together.

Family worship should be led by the father if there is a father in the house. This is really important. The 20th-century did a good job convincing many people that the roles of men and women are interchangeable. They are not. There is a reason why all the formal leadership roles in the Bible were assigned to men and filled by men: men were specially designed by God to lead His people in worship and devotion. Young boys and girls need to see the father leading the family in worship; it helps their spiritual development.

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What if the father knows less than the mother? In this case, so long as the father is a believer, deep Biblical knowledge is not the prerequisite to being head of the household. It is very helpful and should be sought after by all men, but is not necessary. The fact that a father is opening the Bible to talk about it and to submit himself to its teaching puts his mark of approval on it. It shows he sees it as his authority. If you want you children to desire to learn the Bible, they need to respect it as important. Seeing their father respect it before the family gives them a visual picture of its importance.

What does this look like in practice? It does not mean that the father reads the Bible then is the only person who talks about it while everyone else is quiet. This can be stifling to children. Rather, the father is the one who oversees the process from start to finish.

An important first step is reading the Bible itself. Either he can do it or he can ask someone else to do it. Some families may first want to sing a hymn or pray; that is fine, so long as the Bible itself is read during some part of family worship, then discussed. Some families may like using a devotional book. Again, that is fine, but it is still important to read a section of the Bible. It doesn’t need to be long, but does need to include enough to talk about.

That is the second key element: the family needs to talk about what was read in the Bible. Parents should ask children questions and give them time to answer. Ask them what it means, what it reminds them of from other parts of the Bible, and how it applies to their lives. Sometimes a mother may have studied a passage more, sometimes a father may have done so. Or perhaps there is something no one understands. If so, then commit to studying it with them to figure out what it means (this is where a study Bible or even good commentary comes in handy).

Finally, the third key element is spending time as a family praying together. Although there may be times that only the father prays, it is also important that children are taught to pray out loud in a group. Simple prayers are fine. It is the act of praying together as a family that is helpful to children’s spiritual growth.

A word of warning: family worship often does not run as smoothly as parents would like. Don’t let this bother you. It may be hard getting into a habit of

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doing it. Again, don’t be frustrated. Keep at it and eventually you will find a routine forming. There is a good reason why the things we do in our spiritual growth are called the disciplines of grace.

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5. Memorize Bible Verses

And the tempter came and said to [Jesus], “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:3-4 ESV)

It is useful to be able to locate a verse in the Bible, but it is much better to carry that verse around with you. The only way to do that is to memorize Bible verses, and that requires setting aside some time with your children to do just that. It can be daily, every few days, or every week - it just needs to be regular for it to work.

In one sense, the Bible is like a hardware store and verses are tools. Certain verses are the perfect fit for certain situations, but since we can never know for sure what situation we will be in before we are in it, we need to fill up our toolbox with as many tools as we can. This process can be a bit plodding, but as the verses pile up, it begins to pay off.

Which verses do you choose? In the process of your daily family Bible reading, you and your children can pick out verses you think are important and make a list of them; or you can do it when you are reading alone. Then there are Bible memorization lists in print or online that gather together popular verses into one place.

The important point is to have a list to work from. This enables you to review where you’ve been and to see the progress you are making. If you want, you can add in a reward system for the number of verses memorized - this seems to help the process along for some children. The good news is that God created children’s young minds to be generally more receptive to memorization, so younger ages are the best time to get in the habit of memorizing scripture.

For adults, however, it can be a bit intimidating. If the process of memorization seems daunting to you, just remind yourself of what it’s like getting into a cool swimming pool. It may feel uncomfortable at first, but your body quickly adjusts. Soon, it will seem like the most natural thing in the world.

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Memorization itself can be done in a number of ways, although the tried and true method is simply to read the verse aloud, then repeat it together over and over again until it is known. You can break down longer verses into parts and follow the same process. As you learn the verses, make a point to memorize the book, chapter and verse for each one. It will help keep everything in order and give it a location.

As you memorize, you will find the Holy Spirit will bring those verses to mind as you and your children go about your daily lives. There is a good reason for this. As the book of Hebrews explains: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)

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6. Listen to Audio Bible Stories

So faith comes from hearing.... (Romans 10:17 ESV)

One of the best discoveries my wife and I made in regard to teaching our children the Bible was discovering audio Bible stories. We would turn them on while they were playing or drawing, and they would spend hours listening. They liked them so much that when they got old enough, they would seek out the CDs and play them again and again. At family worship, when a lesser-known Bible story would come up at the dinner table, they would often know obscure details about it, such as “Ehud was left-handed; that’s how he hid his sword.” (If you’re not sure who Ehud is, look him up in Judges.)

Although there are many good audio Bible options, we started with Your Story Hour’s The Bible Comes Alive series when our children were pre-school and early elementary. The company that produces them goes back to the 1940‘s, and their recordings cover the entire Bible in detail. Everything is dramatized with actors, sound effects and music, which makes the stories much more engaging. The authors add in dialogue not found in the Bible, but they preface the recordings by explaining that they are seeking to be faithful to what’s in the original text.

There are many other audio Bible stories, such as Adventures in Odyssey, that are also popular. A number of Bible publishers have actually dramatized the Bible itself, so that it’s simply the text of the Bible that is read by an actor or actors. All said, what makes good dramatizations so useful in teaching your children the Bible is that they bring stories to life in a way that helps children understand what is really going on. After all, these were real people interacting with God in history. Audio stories are an additional support to daily Bible reading, but they are not a replacement.

Furthermore, audio Bible stories are not the same as films or videos about the Bible. Videos engage a different type of learning and, in my opinion, are not nearly as effective as audio stories. The fact that audio stories still require children to imagine what is going on is important. Videos have a tendency to replace all thought with a certain image - and it is rarely as memorable as the imagined one.

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Listening to the Bible is an important skill for children to learn and audio Bible stories are a wonderful way to encourage that.

Here is one final idea: think about recording yourself reading sections of a story Bible or the actual Bible on your computer or mobile phone. You can then put it on a CD or MP3 player and let them listen to it. It will be your voice reading the Bible to them in a different setting, but it will be one more way to bring the Bible into your child’s daily life.

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7. Share Your Spiritual Life with Your Children

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. (2 Timothy 1:5 ESV)

If being spiritually transparent is difficult for most of us, then being spiritually transparent with our children may be most difficult of all. It’s possible, however, that spiritual honesty is one of the most important things we can share with our children. After all, those little ones who watch us every day know our personal challenges and public failings better than we do.

Their motivation for knowing the Bible must come from somewhere. It is true that at a certain age most children enjoy learning things for the fact of learning them. But as they grow older, unless there is a good reason behind doing something, many will grow weary of knowing for knowing’s sake. Those few who do continue on without the right motivation risk becoming like the Pharisees: knowing lots about a book, but little about God.

This is why your teaching and guiding must be salted with real openness about your relationship to God. We want our children to know the Bible well because we want them to know God well. It is about encouraging our children’s faith in the Lord - just as Eunice encouraged young Timothy to read and know the Greek Old Testament (that’s all he had at the time).

Pull back the curtains regularly to let your children see into your own heart. What verses encourage you? What are you asking of the Lord? How are you convicted by what you read? What do you hope for? Where do you need grace in your life?

The last question could easily be answered by all of us with ‘everywhere.’ But if we reflect on it for a moment, our children are really no different than we are. From God’s perspective, we are all His children. Our role as primary tutor and guide is short-lived; we want our children to grow up in the faith and stand beside us as we worship God together. We want them to have an independent faith that lives on its own.

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A simple way to approach sharing your spiritual life with your children is the acrostic used by some when they pray: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (ACTS).

First, we should find ways to show our children how we love and adore God. Do they see us spending time with Him? Do we talk about what He is doing for us? Do we order our lives so that He is most important? We give time to those things that we truly love: consider where you spend your time and what that says to your children.

Second, it is easy to forget that our relationship with God should be marked with daily repentance. Not only are we are to ask God for forgiveness, but also those we have sinned against. Our children should hear us asking God for forgiveness for specific sins, and then, if those same sins apply to them, asking our children for their forgiveness, too. A repentant heart is at the center of a healthy relationship with God. As David says “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10 ESV)

Confession applies to things you might have neglected to do (like reading your Bible, praying, being loving, etc.) as well as to things you did that were wrong (like yelling at your kids, complaining, being angry, etc.). Obviously, this doesn’t include private sins that your children don’t need to know about, deeper problems in your marriage, and so forth. Rather, repentance before God of public sins in a public way is honest and humbling. It shows your children the pattern of how they should be regularly repentant before God - as well as how Jesus’ work on the cross is sufficient to forgive us of all our sins.

Third, we should show our children a grateful and thankful heart. Complaining and being dissatisfied with our lot in life is a fairly common sin. If we allow it to dominate our lives, however, then our children will wonder why we spend time worshipping a God whom we ultimately think is doing a lousy job taking care of us.

Intentional, honest thankfulness is the counterweight that pushes against our self-centeredness. If we are consistently thankful for what God does for us - and He does a lot, from giving us breath to giving us salvation, not to mention all the food, clothes, and enjoyment in between - then we should show our children

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the basic posture we are to have with God: an open hand that is grateful for what it receives.

This includes being submissive and accepting of the challenges that come with being a sinner in a fallen world: bearing sickness, unemployment, loss, and death (just to name a few). It may be a real struggle to trust and understand God in those circumstances, but even being honest about that with children is better than letting them see we are frustrated and not bringing it before God. When they are our age, they will have similar challenges; it is important that they know how to bring them to a living God: honestly, truthfully, and thankfully.

Finally, we should let our children know our supplications and requests. Asking God to intercede in our lives and the lives of those around us is a key part of our relationship to Him. If our children never hear us bringing things to God that we need or want, why would they do the same? Are we praying for the lost that we know? Are we asking God to provide for our monetary needs?

All of this comes back to the Bible because it shows we are taking God’s Word seriously. If we want our children to be motivated to know the Bible and grow in faith, then we have to show them what that looks like in our own lives. My guess is that Timothy grew up to know much more about the Bible than Eunice did, and that she was thrilled to see it. As the apostle John well said, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 4 ESV)

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8. Talk About What God is Doing in the World

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26 ESV)

Most children are oblivious as to how much their lives and happiness depend on what we as parents do for them. We feed them, clothe them, and shelter them; we provide them with toys, games, and books; we teach them how to communicate, walk, and live; we protect them, educate them, and love them. And that’s just a short list. There are endless ways we engage and direct their lives.

We know our children are maturing when they begin to realize some of what we do for them. Perhaps they are reading about orphans or abandoned children, and it dawns on them: my parents do a lot for me! Of course, it may be a passing thought, and it won’t be until they are parents themselves that they truly comprehend what a parent does for a child. But that glimmer of recognition changes their perspective on life.

In the same way, when it comes to what God does for us, we are the oblivious ones. After all, He provides us with food, clothing, shelter; He gives us everything we have; He enables us to communicate, protects us, and loves us. But He goes so much further than that in upholding the laws of physics and chemistry (which are quite useful for living); in directing the course of history so that His kingdom will be triumphant (and we be a part of it); and in walking with us daily so that we are spiritually nourished and growing in grace.

Jesus often said that those with eyes to see could comprehend the truth right in front of them - a truth that most people are blind to. It is therefore our job as parents to open our children’s eyes by sharing with them all that God does in the world every day. By doing this regularly, we are laying the foundations for a Christian worldview.

It does not need to be anything terribly sophisticated at first. Rather, show the beauty of God’s presence in the seemingly mundane. When you serve them oranges, talk about how God gave us taste buds to taste all kinds of good flavors. When you are outside playing in the sun, talk about our perfect place in the universe: not too close to the sun nor too far; or you can say how the light created

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on the first day of history makes things grow. Anything is appropriate if it draws their minds to God’s constant and personal presence in the creation that reflects His nature.

Although you don’t have to draw everything back to a particular verse, you can sometimes show a link to the Bible. For instance, when you hear something in the news, you can talk about how God orders all that happens, even though it may be hard for us to understand exactly how and why. In support of this, you could mention Daniel 3 and King Nebuchadnezzar, or the prayer of Hannah in Samuel 1, or any number of Proverbs.

The key here is that you have to know the Bible yourself to be able to do this. There are verses on just about everything - you are merely applying what the Bible says to the passing moments of your children’s lives.

Our goal is to teach our children to see God’s presence around us. Sometimes we think about God being “up there” while we are “down here.” That is not accurate. As Paul explained when he was talking to the Athenians, “He is actually not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being.” Ultimately, this is a great comfort.

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9. Study the Bible Regularly

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. (Ezra 7:10 ESV)

As you read the Bible more consistently, you will start to notice patterns and connections running through it. For example, the first chapter of the book of Hebrews is a series of quotes from different Psalms, all listed one after the other. The author is doing this to prove that Jesus is not an angel, but the Son of God.

Why would he quote the Psalms (some written over a 1000 years before) to prove his point? And why does it matter whether Jesus was a created angel or the eternal Son of God?

Questions like these, and many others, are part of the process of understanding what the authors of the books of the Bible actually meant with their words. This process, and the knowledge that results from it, is referred to as theology. When theology is based on the Bible, it is a good thing, since it is quite useful for understanding how everything fits together, as well as how the Bible applies to us today. It has been said that a teacher is on the same path as his students, just a few steps ahead. Using theology to study the Bible is a good way to keep a few steps ahead.

Theology can be found in sermons, lectures, books, and articles. As you read the Bible, it will be helpful to find dependable teachers and authors who have spent a lot of their time studying the Bible, and so can pass on to you what they have learned.

There is, however, one caveat: some people do not take the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, and so write books or give lectures that can bring more confusion than clarity. If that is the case, how do you know whom to trust?

If your pastor or leaders in your church respect the Bible as the inspired Word of God, ask them for recommendations. Or if you have friends whom you know are already studying the Bible themselves, they could be a good source of ideas.

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Personally, I have studied a variety of sources to learn about the Bible. As far as online resources go, I appreciate the Bible teaching of Ligonier Ministries (ligonier.org) and The Gospel Coalition (thegospelcoalition.org). The website Monergism.org is a wealth of material about the Bible. You can also find an enormous amount of classic Christian writings at ccel.org.

There are many sermons online by gifted pastors, both old and new. I learned a lot about the Bible from reading and listening to the sermons of British pastor Martin Lloyd-Jones (mljtrust.org). Pastor John Piper provides his sermons at desiringgod.org, Pastor John MacArthur provides his at gty.org, and sermonaudio.org has an endless supply of sermons from hundreds of pastors around the world. Don’t be overwhelmed by the many options; just jump in to whatever looks interesting and start there.

You can also seek out commentaries on books of the Bible. A commentary is when one author goes through a book verse-by-verse, looking at the original languages, cross-references, historical setting, and much more. Some commentaries are more scholarly and some are more accessible to the average reader. CCEL provides online the commentaries by John Calvin, Matthew Henry, and others. Ligonier has put together a good list of modern commentaries for each book of the Bible.

There are also classic statements of the faith where specific doctrines of theology are spelled out simply and clearly. These include The Westminster Confession of Faith, the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, and the Baptist Confession, among others. There are also catechisms, which are just questions and answers about the Bible: the Shorter Catechism, the Larger Catechism, and the Heidelberg Catechism. Often the language is older, but don’t let that stop you; after spending some time with them, you will learn the cadence. (The Catechism for Young Children is also available for beginning to teach theology to children.)

All of the above materials can also be found in book form, either at Christian bookstores or online. Speaking of books, they are likely the single best way to study the Bible - there are just so many options, it’s impossible to include a list here. How then do you choose? First, I think C.S. Lewis put it best when he

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said that for every new book you read, also read an old one (in other words, something that is at least 50 years old). Second, read only those authors who affirm that the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God.

Finally, almost all Bible-believing churches offer group Bible studies for people wanting to learn more about the Bible. There are also non-denominational study groups such as Community Bible Study and Bible Study Fellowship International that organize Bible studies in local communities around the world. Not only do these groups teach the Bible, but they provide fellowship with other local believers seeking to grow in their knowledge of the Word of God.

The point of all this is that if you want your children to study the Bible, then you have to study it first. Share with them what you are learning and tell them how you are learning it. They will understand as much from what you do as what you say.

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10. Pray for Your Children

I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.... Keep them from the evil one.... Sanctify them in truth; your word is truth. (John 17:9, 15, 17)

There are many things that we cannot understand, and the relationship between the persons of the Trinity is one of them. The Bible, however, sometimes gives us glimpses into it. Jesus’ prayer to His Father should both encourage us and give us a model as to how to approach God with our own children.

It is easy to underestimate the power of prayer. Jesus did not. In light of His example, we should be bringing the children God gave us before Him daily. After all, they are ultimately His; we are just stewarding them for the most formative years of their lives. (If anything should give us fear and trepidation, this is it. That is why I encourage every parent to read J. C. Ryle’s little book The Duties of Parents.)

Jesus understood the real dangers in the world, which was why He asked the Father to protect us from Satan. We should be asking the Father for the same thing for our children. It is easy to pray for their physical protection because that part of them is what we see the most; but the truth is that Satan seeks to destroy them spiritually. We must be praying regularly that God will protect them from the evil one.

How does Satan do this? Some of his most potent messages are delivered through contemporary media such as movies, shows, video games, books, magazines, and the internet. Although we should absolutely put strict controls on what our children are exposed to, the truth is that we are in an era where it is impossible to control everything. We must be praying diligently that God will protect them from Satan and all those who serve him.

We must also be praying that God will sanctify our children with the Bible. Unless God’s Spirit applies it to their hearts, our efforts to teach them are ultimately in vain. This should show us that our work is just the tip of the iceberg - there is a whole process of sanctifying them, of making them holy and cleansed, that is the work of God beneath the surface. We should be bringing our children to

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the One to whom they ultimately belong and asking Him to be faithful to His promises.

The encouraging thing is that Jesus has gone before us in praying for our children. And the Spirit works to protect them and sanctify them. But prayer is not a one-time occurrence, but a constant relationship between us and God. You may be the only person on earth praying for their safety from Satan as well as their relationship with God. Although this is a weighty responsibility, it is a very easy thing to do: we simply bring our children daily to the Lord in prayer. Our goal in teaching them the Bible is that they grow in their relationship to God; prayer is the most important part of it.

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Closing Thoughts

The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone...which I have written for their instruction.... Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. (Exodus 24:15-16)

The LORD works in curiously consistent ways. There seems to be a pattern in the Bible of the LORD making His servants wait on Him before He reveals Himself to them. I don’t know exactly why this is the case (I’m sure someone somewhere does); rather, I have read it happening enough times to know that it’s true.

I wonder what Moses was thinking during those six days he was in the cloud. Joshua was with him, so I suspect they talked together. Just before this, they and the 70 elders of Israel had enjoyed a meal with God on some kind of other-worldly sapphire floor. I imagine they talked a bit about that.

The point of me mentioning this is that the process of interacting with God and His Word includes times of wonderful fellowship as well as times of slow waiting. Don’t be bothered by the latter; they are part of the steady process of teaching your children about the Bible.

Perhaps one of the reasons God gives us time is not to be overwhelmed. Don’t feel like you have to do everything I’ve mentioned in this little booklet at one time. Implement the ideas as you feel you are able to. Incremental steps are key. Start with prayer and end with prayer. God will be faithful to guide you and your children into ever greater knowledge of Him and His Word.

You just have to keep walking up the mountain.

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” (Isaiah 2:2-3)

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Dedicated to Susan Robins Purifoy, who taught her children the Bible.

1946 - 2009

If you have enjoyed this book, you may also like J. C. Ryle’s Duties of Parents, available for free at CompassClassroom.com.

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