Making God’s Word our Daily Bread
It didn’t take long for my eldest son to bring home his first “new idea” from Kindergarten. I’m not talking about learning about where rain comes from, or the order of the letters of the alphabet. It was an idea about marriage that he’d picked up from another student in his class, one that he certainly didn’t get from us or from the Bible.
Make no mistake: the values, beliefs and ideologies of the world are screaming at our young people on a daily basis. But it’s not only the young who are susceptible – all of us are being influenced by the TV we watch, the Movies we go to, the music we listen to, the Podcasts we follow – whether we know it or not.
But take heart! As we read in Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.”
Below are some resources I’d like to share to encourage Christians of all ages and stages in our church to be spending time in God’s word.
Babies
It might seem odd to think about reading God’s word with someone who can’t yet speak or hold their head upright, let alone read for themselves. But setting up routines where God’s word is central is something that you can do from any age. For my boys, we started as soon as we’d gotten over that first 6-to-12-week haze of indiscriminate waking and sleeping, when there actually did seem to be a “bed-time” at the end of the night.
Some tips for young Babies
With babies, routine and repetition are key. My eldest had the same Rhyme Bible story every night for a week, before we switched to the next one. For my youngest, we’d sing the same Colin Buchanan song to him every night before he fell asleep.
The aim wasn’t to impart deep theological truths (though make no mistake, Colin Buchanan’s songs definitely do that!), it was to establish as a family that every day we spend time listening to God (no matter how sleep-deprived we may feel!)
Preschool to Early High School
Kids Read is a resource that is designed to help parents read the Bible with their Children by providing age-appropriate questions to help them engage with the reading. You can choose different questions each day and mix-and match the questions if you have a range of ages in your household.
If repetition is more helpful, you can try the Swedish Method open questions which ask what shines out from the passage, what questions you have about the passage, what you learn about Jesus from the passage, how can you apply the passage.
Another resource is 321 Psalms (see below for more information).
The younger the children, the more simple the Bible – a good Children’s Bible like The Beginner’s Bible by Zonderkids or the Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm. For primary aged kids, the CEV or International Children’s Edition are helpful simplified translations. From late Primary and into High School, they’re best reading the HSCB translation that we use at church.
Some tips for families
It may help to listen to an AudioBible instead of your own voice. The Dwell App has lots of options for different voices and accents reading God’s word.
We also have found allowing the children to draw as they listen helps them concentrate.
Another idea would be to play a YouTube animation of the passage, then read it afterwards, to help the young ones picture what is being said. Saddleback Kids and Crossroads Kids Club have great resources for this.
As children get older (and family dinner times may be more scarce due to extra commitments), some families have had success setting up a What’sApp group where they share reflections on the passage together via text message. Of course, this need not be limited to family groups. Already there are groups of friends in our church who are daily encouraging each other from God’s word using text message groups.
Adults
Maybe you’re a person who thrives on routine. Or, maybe you’re like me: every day of the week is different depending on my work, my husband’s work and the back and forth from kids’ activities. Either way, there are lots of different resources you can use to make God’s word part of your day every day, either in a set routine or (if you’re like me) using different resources depending on the time of day and amount of time you have available.
5 minutes:
When time is limited, finding 5 minutes in the day to read through a Psalm is ideal (unless it’s Psalm 119, in which case you’d be best taking 5 minutes to read just one stanza!). The 321 Psalm reading method is a simple three step way to reflect on what you’ve read, noting three words or phrases that stand out, two things you’re challenged or encouraged by, and one thing to pray about.
Similarly, most days you probably check your phone for something – a text, an email, or perhaps (like me) scrolling mindlessly on Facebook for longer than you’d care to admit. Installing the Bible App on your phone is one way to use the time you spend on news websites or social media in a more productive way. There are hundreds of Bible Reading plans to choose from to help you.
5-10 Minutes:
If you have slightly more time, we have created these devotions to go along with the sermon series in Hebrews this term. Every day there is a reading from Hebrews and four questions to answer. You can print it out, keep it in your Bible, write some notes and pray through God’s word in preparation for the sermon each week.
20 Minutes:
If you have more time to go in-depth into God’s word, the Into the Word App is a fantastic resource. Taking the form of 20 minute episodes, Paul Carter from Cornerstone Baptist Church in Orilla Canada, reads and explains one chapter of the Bible in every episode. He hopes, under God, to eventually have an episode on every chapter of the Bible. So far there is a wide selection from the Old and New Testaments to choose from. Definitely worth a look.
These are just a few resources you might want to try. I hope and pray that they might help you keep God’s word in your day, every day.