By Lori Boyd
“Isn’t it wonderful to know that Granny is feeling better, Kate?” Driving down the road, I glanced back at my then four-year-old daughter sitting in her car seat, looking out the back seat window, with a half nelson hold on a smartly dressed stuffed leopard. I quickly identified the moment as a teachable one and I jumped in with both feet! “Kate, remember how we talked to God and prayed for Granny to get better? Well, God answered our prayers! We need to thank Him for taking care of Granny.”
The rear view mirror revealed a slight change in Kate’s status: a sweet smile playing around the corners of her mouth as she thought about her beloved Granny. Feeling like the moment was going well, I continued, really wanting to drive home the idea of God answering our prayers..“Kate? You know that we are talking to God when we pray and He will answer our prayers; we just might not always get the answer we want.” I paused briefly before heading into the “sometimes yes/sometimes no/sometimes not right now” portion of my lesson, when Kate suddenly turned from the window, eyes wide with excitement and sudden revelation, “Mommy! God just told me that I could have some gum!” Oh, dear.
Thus the teachable “moment” became the teachable “afternoon while running errands.”
As a Christian, I know that the Bible is inspired of God (2 Timothy 3:16). I recognize that God speaks to me, not through any supernatural means, but through my own study and understanding of the Scriptures. I understand that when I read letters from Paul, or psalms of David, or one of the Gospels, or any one of the 66 books of the Bible, I am reading the words of God Himself as He, through the Holy Spirit, guided the hand of each writer (2 Peter 1:20-21). I just need to be sure that I am teaching this to others, as well.
I love reading books to my children. It’s one of my favorite bedtime rituals at our house and we enjoy all types: fiction, fantasy, adventure, you name it! It is important though, as they grow older, that children realize the difference between the book about a magical world that exists within a rabbit hole and the Bible’s account of Balaam’s talking donkey. One is written by a talented man, and the other comes from the very mouth of God. Our children should be taught that the Bible is not simply another book of stories, but rather the one and only Book written by God and given to us that we might have a means of hearing His words today (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
We teach our children to sing “Jesus Loves Me” when they are very young and praise their efforts as they belt out the finale:“…the Bible tells me so!” But, do our children know why they can believe what they read in the Bible? They sing the words, “Oh, the B-I-B-L-E, yes, that’s the book for me! I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E!” But, do they know why they can “stand alone” on the Bible? We empower our children when we teach them the scriptural and historical facts that support the Bible as God’s divinely inspired Book. Then, when confronted with questions about the Bible, they are confident and ready to answer!
Kate and I had a great afternoon running errands together. While we were in the car, we talked about how we speak to God through prayer and how God speaks to us through His words recorded in the Bible. We talked about how God answers our prayers and the importance of thanking Him when He gives us what we ask. We also laughed, sang songs, bought groceries, and chewed a lot of gum.
