They are not too young to be taught the word of God

I was so annoyed.  I needed to to get some work done and wanted them to leave me alone.  BUT. THEY. DID. NOT.  They won.  I pushed my cleaning agenda to the side and sat on the room floor with them.  It was ONLY 9:30am and we had already had multiple meltdowns, wiping runny noses, toilet breaks that interrupted my cleaning flow…WE ALL NEEDED a word.  I must say I did not start off with a willing heart,  my mind was on all that had to be accomplished.  BUT I KNEW it was needed.  I grabbed for an old kids bible song book and was flooded with a lot of pleasant memories.  It was the same song book that I used 10 years ago when I began my journey as a stay at home mom.  I had no clue what I was in for.  I had much zeal back then as a new mother, often striving for an illusive perfection.  But from a sincere heart, I wanted more than ever for my sweet little girl to grow to love My Jesus.  I desired for her to make a choice to serve him at a young age and stick with that choice; avoiding some of the mistakes of her mother.  So my journey began with teaching her the word of God through song.

I have changed a lot since then but the desire for all of my children to know Jesus remains.  So with dirty dishes in the sink, and clothes that needed to be ironed, I sat on the floor with the younger three, opening the song book and began to sing “Jesus loves me.”  Well, let me rephrase that. We all sat on the floor.  I began to sing Jesus loves me (off key if I may add) while Faith climbed all over me.  Isaiah and Elijah were everything BUT attentive. They were too busy fighting over another book.  But I wasn’t the least bit deterred. I kept on singing. Elijah realized I wasn’t going to stop so he decided to join in and I suspect with time Isaiah and Faith will get the clue.  After our mini praise and worship I read a short bible story with half of a captive audience.  That 15 minute “interruption” changed the course of our day. There was a noticeable shift in attitudes. I especially had to take note of Elijah’s willingness to help clean up. Let me tell you, that was a major miracle because this boy becomes an instant attorney/politician when work is required of him. He can tell you every reason why he is not able to clean.

Parents often become discouraged when sharing the word of God with younger children. We feel like they are not attentive enough and aren’t really “getting” it. The temptation is there to wait until they can sit long enough to really pay attention and ask deep theological questions. But I want to encourage you with this truth today, more is registering than you realize.  Changes are being made in their spirits. Start sharing the word of God today even if it is just in song.  God knows how to take our efforts and do a work in our children beyond what we can see.  They are never too young.

I invite you to visit my site again because I will be posting some practical ways to share the word of God with young children.  In the mean time, I would love to hear the strategies you use to share the word of God with your children.  Please leave a comment below.

Anika Jones

About the Author

Anika Jones

Anika Jones is a speaker and author of the book Lessons Learned Along The Way: A 40 Day Devotional. She blogs about faith and family at LivingForLater.com and posts weekly videos on her YouTube channels, Living For Later (@livingforlater) and Living Life Now (@livinglifenow). Anika loves speaking about developing intimacy with God and understanding who we are in Christ. She serves alongside her husband in ministry. They live in Illinois with their 6 children.