Children Should Be Enriched With Scripture

Just a quick follow-up to yesterday's "Ribs And Kidney Stones" podcast.

First, here's the link to that excellent resource ("A Guide For Christian Parents") from Grace Lutheran Church in Parker, CO. We shared most of the content from the article during the show and I really like it because it contains advice on topics like:

* Raising Children In The Church
* Teaching Children How To Pray And Sing
* Why Children Should Participate In The Liturgical Life of The Church
* 12 Steps To Teaching The Christian Faith To Children

Next, I wanted to share a brief quote from Martin Luther about catechizing our children that we failed to include at the end of the program.

Enriched With Scripture

"Take these words of mine to hear and keep them in mind. (Write them down,) tie them around your wrist and war them as headbands as a reminder. Teach them to your children." Deuteronomy 11:18-19

When children are old enough to begin grasping the concepts of faith, they should make a habit of bringing home verses of Scripture from church. They should recite these verses to their parents at mealtime. Then they should write the verses down and put them in little pouches or pockets, just as they put pennies and other coins in a purse. Let the pouch of faith be a golden one. Verses about coming to faith, such as Psalm 51:5; John 1:29; Romans 4:25; and Romans 5:12, are like gold coins for that little pouch. Let the pouch of love be a silver one. The verses about doing good, such as Matthew 5:11; Matthew 25:40; Galatians 5:13; and Hebrews 12:6, are like silver coins for this one.

No one should think he’s too smart for this game and look down on this kind of child’s play. Christ has to become a man in order to train us. If we want to train children, then we must become children with them. I wish that this kind of child’s play were more widespread. In a short time, we would see an abundance of Christian people rich in Scripture and in the knowledge of God. They would make more of these pouches, and by using them, they would learn all of Scripture. As it is now, people go to hear a sermon and leave again unchanged. They act like a sermon is only worth the time that it takes to hear it. No one thinks about the time that it takes to hear it. No one thinks about learning anything from it or remembering it. Some people listen to sermons for three or four years and still don’t learn enough to respond to a single question about faith. More than enough has been written in books, but not nearly enough has been driven into our hearts.

*- Martin Luther By Faith Alone - 365 Devotional Readings

I just love Luther's analogy between God becoming man and we becoming children.

In a Lutheran layman's terms, fulfill your vocation and catechize (a.k.a. teach) God's Word to your children and grandchildren today.

NOTE: As you know, I am a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is not consistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and point us back to) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray (James 3:1). Finally, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote on this blog back in 2013 definitely fall into that category since I was a "Lutheran-In-Name-Only" at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a "Book of Concord" containing our Confessions even existed. In addition, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavy influenced by common Evangelical concerns/criticisms that aren't that big a deal for us Lutherans. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because we now have this disclaimer and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Finally, please know that any time we engage in commenting on and/or interpreting a specific portion of the holy Scriptures, it will always follow the verse-by-verse notes from my Lutheran Study Bible unless otherwise noted. Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Grace and peace to you and yours!

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