Since I was old enough to remember, I have carried a Bible to worship. It is automatic. I never stop to think about it. It’s as natural as picking up my purse.
Sadly, the children in my Bible class aren’t so good about bringing their Bibles. I give points to them if they bring a Bible. I remind them often that they need it, and we read from the Bible in every class. Unfortunately, some still don’t bring one.
When I ask the children, “Where is your Bible”, these are the answers I get.
- “I left it at home.”
- “I left it in the car.”
- “I can’t find it”.
- “I left it at my grandmother’s.”
- “It’s somewhere in my room, but I’m not sure where.”
Sometimes I just get a shrug of the shoulders. They basically didn’t care enough to look for it or bring it. It makes me sad!
The same is true with reading the Bible everyday. Our elders have asked us to be daily Bible readers, and about 3/4 of my class does read everyday. (I wish they could find that Bible on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening).
Last Sunday all but one of the children had read everyday, and only one failed to bring her Bible. I was genuinely pleased, but what about that one?
Most parents would not send their child off to school without being properly prepared with books, pencils, paper, lunch money or sack lunch, homework, etc. That’s a lot of “stuff”. Yet those same parents will take their child to worship without the most important tool for study, the Bible.
I have a special attachment to my Bible. It has lots of notes, to which I often refer. It is also beginning to show some wear. It is my most treasured possession, and I’ll tell you why.
Many years ago, we had a house fire. We lost everything, including my Bible.
A few weeks after the fire, our minister preached a sermon on King Josiah. He talked about how they found the Book of the Law when the king ordered the restoration of the temple. It had been lost among the rubble.
He talked about how Shaphan, the scribe, bought the book to King Josiah, and that he tore his clothes and wept when he saw it. He called together the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, all the men of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priest, the prophets, and all the people and read the Book of Law that had been found.
I wept during that sermon because I had lost a treasure, my Bible. I had not yet replaced it, but I went the next day and bought a new one.
In this digital age, we often use our computers and other devices to access passages of scripture. But let’s not forget that our children still need to see us carrying our “swords” when we go to worship.
Where is your Bible? Find it. Respect it by using it regularly. Like the children’s song says, “Read, study, and then obey the B-I-B-L-E”.
Sandra Oliver
For approximately 66 years I have taught children’s Bible classes–most of the time twice a week. I began when I was barely 14 years old. Back in those days I typed the bulletin for our congregation too. Looking back on my experiences, I wonder how they trusted me to do a good job, but I’m glad they did.
Every year I tried to think of new ways to get the children to bring their swords, and some things worked better than others. One thing I tried was to give the classes a quiz on reading material I had assigned the week before. I chose short memorable verses which I knew would be easy for them to understand. You see, I found that some children would *say* they were daily Bible readers when they actually were not. How could I check? How could I deter them from lying to add to the sin of not reading?
Not long ago someone sent me a short article about the “Sage of Alabama” (Gus Nicole) having never missed a service in more than 50 years. He said it was just a decision he had to make and that he never thought of doing anything else. Our Bible class children have to do the same thing. They have to make up their minds that it is the most important thing in life and do it. Of course it helps if parents think these things are important too!