Soak Up God’s Word
by Amy Diller
A novelty that we’ve all seen or played with ourselves is those “add water and watch them grow” toys. You know the ones – washcloths compressed into little shapes until you put them in water, capsules that dissolve to reveal a large sponge-like creature or the soft plastic figures that expand to ten times their original size. It’s fun to watch kids get excited as the transformation takes place.
Children are so much like these toys. We’ve heard it said that little ones are sponges, and it’s very true. They grow and expand as they soak up the experiences around them. They are always observing, listening, and working to make sense of incoming information. Not many things escape the attention of a child.
Secular culture bombards them with messages that are contrary to God’s truth. Although some of the voices oppose Christian values in blatant ways, others are more subtle and can be even more dangerous because they sound good on the surface. Looking back to the Garden of Eden, the enemy spoke the words, “Did God really say?” twisting the truth and hoping to get Adam and Eve to doubt their Creator. All these years later, he is still using the same tactic to bring confusion and doubt into our lives.
Children need to be taught to discern the voice of God so that they are equipped to sort through the messages they hear, set aside what is not from God, and hold firmly to what is true. Remember the song “The B-I-B-L-E” and the lyrics I stand alone on the Word of God? The only way any of us can distinguish between godly and ungodly messages is to rely on God’s Word as the only source of truth.
Because we want kids to be able to recognize His voice, we need to help them soak up His Word and be transformed by it. We can do this by…
Read directly from the Bible. Sometimes, we offer kids a paraphrased version of Bible passages and verses when we’re teaching, and it’s easy to leave it at that. There’s certainly nothing wrong with explaining things in ways kids can better understand, but there’s power in reading the actual words of scripture to children. Invite kids to take turns reading passages for you and display verses to read out loud as a group. Familiarity with the language of scripture is an important component in being able to discern God’s voice.
Focus on God’s character. All of scripture teaches us about the many facets of God’s wondrous character. We get to know the depth of His love, goodness, justice, power, and countless other traits through the stories in the Bible. In every part of His Word, we learn who God is and what He’s like. The
more kids know about God’s character, the more confident they’ll be in discerning His voice.
Encourage scripture memorization. The best example of why this is so important comes from the story of Jesus in the wilderness. Every time Satan twisted what God had said to tempt Jesus, Jesus countered with the truth found in the Word. As children memorize the Bible, they will be better prepared to identify truth from the lies of the enemy. One of the most effective ways for anyone to commit something to memory is putting it to music…even better if you add motions, too. There’s something about melody that helps cement information into long-term memory. Ministries such as https://seedskidsworship.com offer scripture-based worship music to help children (and adults) learn God’s Word.
Practice times of quiet listening. We can give kids tools to help them hear God’s voice, but that’s not enough. Children learn best through doing. Offer opportunities for kids to practice inviting God to speak and listening to what God is saying to them. Designate times to pause for quiet reflection, like taking a few moments of silence at the end of prayer time, listening to the words of a scripture-based song together, or stopping after reading a Bible verse to reflect on what it means. Whenever or however you choose to do it, follow up by allowing kids to share what they heard God saying to them.
As leaders called to serve in children’s ministry, we desire to see kids make decisions to follow Christ at an early age and to mature into fully committed disciples of Jesus. Being intentional about providing opportunities for kids to soak up God’s Word is transformational. It’s our privilege to play a part in helping them come to know their Savior so well that they are able to recognize His voice above all others.