Do you remember the Bible’s story of how Jesus miraculously fed thousands with five loaves and two fish? Jesus’ disciple, Andrew, acknowledged, ”There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” John 6:9 (NASB)
Who do you think packed that little boy’s lunch? The Bible does not say, but I like to think it was the boy’s mother. She knew her son’s curious nature and tendency to explore or follow a crowd, so she prepared him as best she could for whatever his day might hold.
You and I must do the same for our children, grandchildren, and the other children God puts in our lives. Preparing children encompasses more than food, clothing, and education. We need to also prepare the children in our lives to be used in whatever way God desires. Read and discuss with them the remarkable stories of the Bible. Teach them scripture and help them memorize it. Let them see you make God’s word and obedience to it top priority in your own life. Talk about God and relate godly truths to your children in everyday circumstances.
Teaching God’s Word to young children can be quite entertaining. Once during Bible time, I shared the story of Lazarus with my two toddlers. To help them visualize the story, I had them role play Lazarus and Jesus.
We made a tomb by covering a little table with beach towels. Taking a large blanket, I wrapped my daughter and placed her under the table in the ‘tomb.’ My son exclaimed, “Lazarus, come out!” at which time my daughter emerged from under the table.
They took turns playing each role with delight. After our bible time was over, the kids continued to repeat the story and play each role until I heard my daughter call, “Lazarus Come out!” to which my son boastfully replied, “No! I will not!”
There is a vast variety of wonderful bible story books, and I read many to my children. However, I also was available for my children to hear me read directly from Scripture despite the temptation to wait until they were older.
However, the nagging doubt that my incredibly young ones were not even listening was soon dispelled. Imagine my surprise when my two year old son, who had apparently been contemplating the story in Genesis 3 in which Adam and Eve’s disobedience resulted in their having to leave the Garden of Eden, asked me, “Mommy, when God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, was God driving a car?”
Confused over the question but seeing his earnest desire for an answer, I reflected upon the Scripture we had been reading and had to smile upon the realization that Genesis 3:23-24 states, “therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden… So He drove the man out….”
Obviously, my two-year-old son had indeed been listening intently and was wondering if God owned a car or a truck!
My 2-year-old daughter would often sit in her bedroom, pretending to read and teach Bible stories to her many stuffed animals. One evening, desiring to see and hear what she was saying, I quietly stood near her bedroom doorway. Standing behind her, I observed all that she was doing. My darling daughter had lined her up friends on the floor and she was standing in her bed holding her Bible in one hand and gesturing with the other as I heard her declare, “…and the Word of the Lord came to me…” As many of God’s servants throughout Scripture announce these same words, it became clear that my darling daughter had also been listening to the reading of Scripture also.
There are and will be decisions and influences our children face that we cannot even imagine. As mothers, our responsibility is to influence and prepare our children in such a way that when it comes time for them to make their own decisions, they will have God’s truth in their heart and our godly example in their mind.
That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and tell them to their children, That they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, Psalm 78:6-7 (NASB)
Gratitude frees us to enjoy life and opens our eyes to blessings we would otherwise miss.
The Bible’s story of Hannah is dear to my heart. Hannah was barren and longed for a child. While praying and weeping bitterly for a child, she promised the Lord that if He gave her a son, she would give up the child to serve the Lord all the days of that child’s life. God answered her prayer and Hannah kept her promise. When the time came for Hannah to bring Samuel to the temple to live, she handed the child to the temple priest, Eli, courageously sharing, “For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord…” (1 Samuel 1:27-28 NASB)
During the years of my longing to be a mother, God helped me and led me to pray, “God bless me with a child when You know I am ready.” Not knowing whether or not God would ever think me ready to be a mother made that a hard prayer to pray, but, as I prayed that prayer, I began to realize that if and when God did bless our home with children, those children would not be given to be mine, but God’s.
God’s love for you is great. After Jesus was born and the shepherd came to see the new king, Luke 2:19 records, “But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (ESV)
Dearest Daughter,
Jochebed was the mother of Moses. She gave birth to her son Moses at a time when the Egyptian Pharoah was ordering the death of any Hebrew boy born. Amazingly, Jochebed was able to hide her son for three months. The Bible says, But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. (Exodus 2:3)