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				Virtual Christian Magazine Editorial Bible Education for Our Little Ones By Stan Cook ible education is a prominent topic in the lives of my wife Holly and I, primarily because we have three children age 5 and under. Sometimes, though, the topic of Bible education can be a somewhat controversial one. In our church area, we are currently working with other parents to develop a Bible education program for our "young youth" (the preschool set, essentially) and are working through some of the basic questions of any Bible education program. Among these questions--who's going to do it--where--how? And sometimes, even "why?" Psalms 78:1-6 addresses the "why": "O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old-what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, His power, and the wonders He has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which He commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands." This passage in Psalms tells us that what we're teaching our children is not just for our little ones. We need to have the foresight that one day they are each going to grow up and possibly have little ones of their own. (If it happened to me, it can happen to anyone!) What we need to be doing now with our young people should have a lasting positive impact for generations to come--to our descendants who will learn about our wonderful Creator long after we are gone. It is our belief that the lessons have to be fun for the young people. If they don't have a good time, they're not going to want to come back! It's been a joy already to watch some of the youngsters, who I didn't know really well at first, start to open up more and become more comfortable. We firmly believe that we can have fun and learn at the same time. For example, we recently had a lesson discussing God's creation of Adam and Eve. We brought building clay for each of the children to play with, and we talked about how God formed man out of dirt. So we did the same with our clay. Each child did an excellent job making his or her own "person." Unfortunately, we noticed that there was nothing we could do to make our "people" get up, walk and talk. Only God can do that! Bible education is definitely a team effort. It is important to have a group of parents (not to mention church leadership) with a common goal. Without that support, the process can become bogged down and difficult. In our particular area, we have chosen to develop our own "curriculum." There are several excellent programs available through various resources, but we decided that we could come up with some more personalized lessons if we did them ourselves. In working with some other curricula in the past, we've found that what works for one particular area does not necessarily work for another area or instructor. If the instructors aren't enthused about the program, the children are certainly going to notice, and they aren't going to have as much fun! We want the lessons--the point of what we're doing--to be planted in the hearts of these wonderful kids. Every lesson has a "point." For instance, what is God trying to tell us here? Why did he put this in the Bible?" We also try to include a memory verse with most of the lessons. The older ones really excel in this area. The 5 and 6-year-olds have done a good job of remembering their Bible verses from week to week. It's obviously nice to have young people be able to recite Bible verses and I'm very proud of them. But we are after more than just "cute." There are several areas we are striving to develop as we work with our youth. We want our youth to know that they have a responsibility. Rev. 20:11-13 addresses this principle: "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done." We are all going to be judged. We are all going to have to stand before God and be accountable for our actions. Despite our best intentions, none of us can stand in for any of our young people. This makes it all the more important to make use of the time now to show them His love--to show them His commands--so we can live in a way that's pleasing to our Father in heaven. We want our youth to know their shepherd. John 10:14-15 states, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep." How does this happen? Well, put another way - if we don't show them, who will? Jesus did lay down His life for us. Our children need to know that. They need to know deep within themselves that Jesus loves them enough to have given His life for each one of them! What a secure, comforting feeling it is to know that we have a heavenly Father who deeply loves us! Our kids need to have a deep, ingrained sense of God's love for them, which will not be shaken no matter what they face in their futures. Psalm 103:13-18 demonstrates the love God has for His children. "As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children's children--with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts." This is the kind of love our Father has for us and we need to be sure our young people know that! We want them to have FUN! God's word and His law do not have to be boring or constraining for kids. There are so many things that can be done as "real-life" fun illustrations of God's principles. Here's an example of one thing I want to do when the weather gets a little warmer. A popular preschool television show has a game where the characters play "sink or float." Basically, they look at several objects and try to decide if the objects are going to sink or float in water. One night at home, during bath time, I had an idea based on this. I tested it in advance to make sure that several of the kids' playthings would all sink (I admit I "stacked the deck."). Then, while our children were in the bathtub, I brought out these objects and asked if these were going to sink or float. We noticed that every one of them sank, and we also noticed that not one of our children could sit on top of the water--every one of them sank into it! Then I brought out the story of Jesus walking on the water. Our children were definitely more impressed by "walking on water" because they could see the object lesson. When the "light goes on" and we see these young people really begin to grasp a concept which God shows us in His word, we are more and more excited to show them even more in the most fun, exciting way we can. The stories are obviously valuable, but we also want them to be able to recall the lessons from these stories when they're facing difficult times. For example, when someone hurts them, instead of wanting revenge, they can hopefully reach the point where they remember the story of Joseph and how he forgave his brothers. These stories can and will apply to their lives. We need to do our part to thank God for each of these little children and the opportunity we have to help them grow in their knowledge of Him. Copyright 2000 by United Church of God, an International Association All rights reserved.

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Other Articles by Stan Cook
Origin of article "Bible Education for Our Little Ones"
Keywords: teaching children Bible for children Bible education 

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