A few months ago, our 3 year old informed us that he really needed to start carrying a Bible to church. While I agree that we should teach our children to carry and care for a Bible, it never occurred to me that a 3 year old was ready for this responsibility. Apparently he was. My son is very protective of his Bible and insists that Daddy read it to him at night.
When we bought our son's Bible, I thought it was important to get the same version that they use at church so that he can study his own Bible when he's memorizing verses. As a result, we bought a kid's ESV Bible. (Our church has chosen to use the English Standard Version.) Buying our son's Bible got the ball rolling for the rest of the family. It occurred to me that since my son had an ESV, it might be wise to buy myself an ESV so that I could be reading the same text as my child. So, I bought a slim ESV Bible to carry to church in place of my rather large NASB study Bible that I use at home. For Father's Day, I decided to buy my Dear Husband his own ESV Bible so that the entire family can be on the same page. And I thought we were in good shape on the Bible front. Until this morning...
My 2 year old was hanging out in my office while I was reading my Bible. He was pointing at Daddy's Bible and his brother's Bible and was taking them off the shelf to flip through. That's when it occurred to me that my youngest wanted his own Bible! So today, I found a "First Bible" on a shelf in the closet and gave it to my 2 year old. Not only was he thrilled, but he started flipping through it right away. And then my 3 year old came and pointed out the picture of Jesus dying on the cross. He then proceeded to tell us about Jesus dying and raising from the dead 3 days later! I must say, both boys blew my socks off this morning.
Needless to say, I'm thrilled about the passion that my children have for their Bibles. They've been singing the B-I-B-L-E for the past month, and they are careful to make sure that we don't leave for church without our Bibles. I just hope that they see me exhibit a similar passion for my Bible. I want them to see me reading my Bible. I want them to hear me talking about what is written in my Bible. And I hope that they see that God's Word is the authority for my life.
I'm learning to never underestimate a toddler. They may seem like they're not retaining anything, but they see and copy everything we do. What an incredible task we've been given--to be living examples of godly men and women for our children!
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