I recently spoke at a Ladies’ Day in Sequatchie County, Tennessee. It is a beautiful building and a congregation nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains and farmland.
I was immediately reacquainted with a number of ladies from the area that I haven’t seen in several years. One of the ladies was to introduce me, and she was one of those that I haven’t seen in more than 15 years.
When she stood before the ladies, she read the information I provided about my family, education, and some of my current activities. Then she said she wanted to share a story about me.
When her son was younger, he was a student in my Sunday morning Bible class. I had assigned a memory verse, and she was trying to help her son learn it. It was quite obvious that he would rather be doing other things, but she was persistent about his learning the verse. The boy was becoming more and more distracted; and finally he said, “Mom, can we just fire Mrs. Sandy?”
Of course, we all had a good laugh. She had never shared that story with me, maybe because she thought it might hurt my feelings. I am really glad she told it, because it really made me stop and think about the memory work that I still assign to my students.
I have decided that I need to remind the children often why we have memory work. Paul told Timothy in II Timothy 2:15, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (KJV).
Paul told Timothy he needed to study so he would know what God had commanded him to do and so he would know what to teach others. Paul gave Timothy instructions for doing a lot of things in the Lord’s work. He gave him instructions for choosing elders and deacons, reproving those that were still following idol worship, commands to widows, duties of servants, and a charge for Timothy to preach the gospel. Learning the Word was certainly important in order for him to preach the Word.
The Jews were commanded in the Old Testament, “Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments, which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him (Deuteronomy 11:18-22).
God wanted to impress on His people the importance of passing along His commands to their children. In order for them to know what God wanted them to do and to understand its importance, they had to be reminded often.
If it was important for the Jews to learn God’s Word, it is just as important for us today. We need to help our children learn what the Bible says. After all, there are those on every corner trying to take away our rights to serve God.
In II Timothy 3:15, Paul tells Timothy, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”. Timothy’s instruction in the scripture came from his grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice (II Timothy 1:5). How blessed is the child that learns to study the Bible from his family!
I have lots of stories about children that have been in my Bible classes over the years, but this one is a favorite. That will be one of my treasured memories, the day I was fired by one of my students!
Sandra Oliver