People of the Book

We practice Family Worship in my home. Every day we attempt to read some portion of Scripture accompanied by discussion and the occasional hymn or two. I have impressed on my children the absolute wickedness of failing to acknowledge and show gratitude to the God who sustains and has saved us.

While by no means an expert, nor would I argue for a uniform way of doing it, I have a few suggestions.

1. Consistency:   Make sure you do it even when you don't have the time. Even if you end up just reading a Psalm. I think consistency is perhaps the most important practical element of parenting. This is true with learning and discipline. In fact the ideas of discipline and consistency are closely related.

There are times when we don't 'feel' like reading our Bible or taking the time to engage our mind and heart. There are some who balk at the idea of duty and obligation on the part of the Christian. They would argue that it only pleases God when we do what is right with a willing heart. While that is certainly preferable, there is a certain 'rightness' in doing what should be done no matter the state of your sentiment. Feelings can't be trusted. Our growth is a process. Submission even if not always joyful, speaks to the state of our heart.

2. Variety:           This is especially for the children. Read various parts of the Bible. Don't try to read straight through the Pentateuch or the Pauline Epistles. Narrative is going to be more interesting to them. When you do the Epistles, hit the highlights. I am pleased to note that sometimes when I skip over a point that could be made, they'll ask the question. This changes depending on the age of your children.

We alternate. We'll read a Gospel, then an Old Testament book, then an Epistle, then perhaps another Old Testament Book, then a Gospel again, etc...

And then we're always reading a Psalm or two depending on length. The Proverbs are divided into 31 chapters. That's perfect for a chapter a day. Make it an endless cycle. Read through the Proverbs every month. Or if it becomes tedious, skip it for a month and then return to the cycle.

For example yesterday we finished the last two chapters of Genesis. They're pretty straightforward. I spent an extra few minutes talking about Jacob's prophecies and revisited the theme of the Messiah. We talked about the famous verse dealing with how the brothers meant to harm Joseph, but God meant it for good. We discussed how that's a mystery, how men do wicked deeds which they are accountable for, but somehow it all operates within the confines of God's grand plan.

We read Psalm 31, and went through a chapter of Proverbs. We prayed and we were done. We didn't even sing a hymn that day. Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't.

Always review what you covered. For example, 'Today we talked about x,y and z,' just to remind them and help them put it together. If you're out at the grocery store, in between grabbing the green beans and bag of flour...quiz them. And do that with school too, not just the Bible. I chuckle when my kids are answering questions about Charles DeGaulle or Slobodan Milosevic while we're walking through the grocery store. You'll get some funny looks.

Make learning part of life and the Word of God something you bind to your head and your hands. It governs all your thoughts and actions.

Don't get hung up on having to get through a set number of verses or chapters per day. If there's something you want to linger on, do it. If you only get through a single verse but have a great and instructive discussion. Don't worry about it. You can use tools to help you read through the Bible in a year or whatever, but use them as tools, not something you're bound to.

3. Brevity:                   Keep it fairly brief. Use your discretion. Sometimes you want to have a twenty minute time of reading and prayer. Other times it can go for forty-five minutes or longer. It just depends. Sometimes it's better to have two 'sessions' at different times of the day, instead of one long one. Sometimes if you really want to get through something but you see your children starting to get tired, give them a break and regroup for another fifteen minute period.

4. Reading Aloud:      Get your kids to read. This kills two birds with one stone. It teaches them to read well and pay attention to what they're reading.

Reading aloud is something I practice even when alone. It helps me to concentrate and pick out things in the text that I might gloss over when reading silently. It forces you to pick up the cadence of the sentences. Make your kids note this and learn to do it as well. Don't let them read at a hundred miles an hour. A lot of kids (I was no exception) think that's good reading. It's not. It's a 'kind' of reading skill, but not appropriate for trying to understand something.

I used to have them read ten or fifteen verses at a time. They're kids and that can become labourious. Also the others who are listening can begin to disengage. If you have one child who isn't as good of a reader as the others, this can also become tedious. I started having them read just 3-4 verses at a time. I'll start with one and just go around the circle. Verses 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 etc... I can just say the verse numbers and they already know whose turn it is. This keeps them all engaged. They can't shut down because they've got a turn coming up. That may sound kind of mechanistic, but it's not. It's not rushed, but at times if we're plowing through a long chapter, it's nice to get a rhythm going.

Sometimes we'll read a chapter and then I'll stop and review it. Other times I'll talk between each section of verses. It just depends. When we're reading 1 Samuel or Genesis, we can often read larger sections with a few comments at the end of a chapter. In the Epistles, the commentary is more frequent and the progress much slower.

These things work well when it comes to just general schooling. With the older kids we purposely give them longer projects and periods where they have to really engage. But for the younger kids, the goal isn't memorization. The hope is that they'll learn and be interested. More than anything I want them to learn to think. Catechisms and memorization have a certain value, but that's not nearly as important (to me) as learning to be engaged.

We make fellowship with God part of our day. Actually the getting together for thirty minutes here and there isn't too difficult. It's teaching them that now we have to apply it all day long. Don't get up from the table and forget everything you just learned.

Teach them to love the Scripture and be used to having it out and in use at all times. My wife will run into a store to buy a loaf of bread or whatever. I'll pull out a pocket Bible and have them read a Psalm aloud and talk about it for a few minutes. I don't ever want it to seem strange that we're out and about and a Bible is being produced.

At the same time, I don't want to make it oppressive like I'm the drill sergeant. It's not like that at all.

They need to know that we are People of the Book, dependent on the Word of God. God stirs the heart but He also uses Means or Tools to do it...the Family and groups of Families and Individuals making up congregations. As long as the Family and the Church are Word centered we can have great hope that God will accomplish wonderful things as He has promised.