What Have You Learned Today?

We take a break of about 15 minutes between Sunday morning Bible class and worship. During that time the auditorium fills with the noise of adults and children talking, laughing, and discussing the events of the week. I love when the children have something special to show like a bookmark or a colored picture from their Bible lesson that morning. Hearing them describe what they learned in Bible class is precious. Names might get mixed up here or there, but their fascination with the events recorded in the Bible is encouraging to see on their faces and hear in their voices.

I encourage every parent and grandparent to make sure your children and grandchildren regularly attend Bible class on Sunday and Wednesday. Beyond all other benefits of this habit one stands supreme: They will learn God’s Word. Very few things are as important as teaching your children the Word of God as they grow. Teaching them the Bible sets their life on a good and right course, and will help them correctly make difficult decisions in the future. Proverbs 22:6 says:

⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Yes, our children will benefit greatly if we teach and train them in God’s way, which is the way they should go. But children do a curious thing: They imitate especially what they see their parents doing, and they repeat the words they hear their parents saying. It would be tragic to sabotage your attempts to raise them in the Lord by displaying apathy or irritation when it is time to assemble for worship or Bible class. They will see and hear you groaning at how much time it takes or how much better it would be to nap than gather for worship, and they will imitate you when they are grown.

What are you really teaching your children? They are learning all the time, not just when you give them to the Bible teacher. Teaching God’s truth must go beyond the doors of the church building. Show them that even adults continue to learn from God’s Word. Let them see your eagerness to learn and grow. Help them to desire greater knowledge and wisdom from God by desiring it yourself. When they are young they will imitate you, but as they grow they will learn the truth: You taught them to imitate Christ.

¹ Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. -1 Corinthians 11:1 (NASB95)