A Great Day to Begin

The other day my oldest son asked me, "Joash's story is pretty sad, isn’t it?” Like often happens when my kids ask me a question out of the blue, it took me a moment to process. “Oh, you mean Joash in the Bible?” He said yes, that Joash became king when he was seven years old, but even though he started off good, later he turned against God. 

I asked some more questions and discovered that my son had recently read the story of Joash in his copy of The Action Bible which presents God’s redemptive story in the style of a graphic novel. As a self-professed Bible nerd, I’m very excited to see curiosity about the biblical characters in my kids. But although it first seemed like the question he had about Joash came out of the blue, it actually didn’t.

My kid's question about the Bible actually started years earlier.

Before he could read himself, Laura and I read to him from The Beginner’s Bible at night when we would do Read-Pray-Sing* as a family. When he got a bit older, we alternated between reading through The Beginner’s Bible and The Jesus Storybook Bible (which is my absolute favorite children’s Bible). When he started reading on his own, we got him The Hear-Me-Read Bible, with simple words that he could read on his own, and - with help - he started reading the Bible for our family devotions, later graduating to reading from the other two Bibles. For his birthday last year, he got a personal copy of the same Bible our 1st-6th grade students use at Lazarus Kids, but getting the graphic novel styled version of The Action Bible for Christmas is when he really took off. 

You can see that the process that led to having a serious discussion with my eight-year old about a biblical king actually started about seven years ago when Read-Pray-Sing* became part of our daily habit. And celebrating the fact that he is reading his Bible on his own is actually the result of a long, slow version of the leadership square we talk about in The Essentials Class. (I do; you watch. I do; you help. You do; I help. You do; I encourage.)

I’ve heard a line from investment consultants on more than one occasion. They’ll often say, “The best time to start investing was when you got your first paycheck… The second best time to start investing is today.” The return on investment for spending time with God through reading the Bible is pretty incredible. When God speaks to us through His Word, it transforms us.

I don’t know what your habits have looked like in the past, but I do know that today is a great day to begin. 

The links above are great resources for families with kids, and if you’ve never read the Bible as an adult, I recommend you start with The Jesus Storybook Bible. These tools and resources can help you dig deeper. We are here to help you as you take your next step following Jesus. And down the road, who knows? You might just be answering a question about Joash too! 

<>< Pastor Mark T Pulliam

P.S. *Read-Pray-Sing instructions can be found here and we’ve compiled a worship song playlist with lyric videos here.