Feed the Monkey (Learn Books of the Bible)

Feed the Monkey (Learn Books of the Bible)

God has breathed life into all Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right. By using Scripture, the servant of God can be completely prepared to do every good thing.  –2 Timothy 3:16  

God’s word. What an amazing gift we have. It provides us with comfort when we hurt, direction when lost, encouragement when down, peace when in turmoil, instruction when in need of answers and so much more. By following God’s word we can find joy, peace, contentment…a fulfilling life. Now for the fun part—helping our children to see the value in knowing God’s word and how to find what we are looking for in the scriptures.

As we teach our children what is in the scriptures, we should teach them where they are learning from. For instance, when teaching creation, how we got here, we should teach them that this is all found in the Old Testament book of Genesis. When we are teaching about the life of Christ, we should teach them to search the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. As they grow older, knowing this will help them know where to turn in the Bible when they need to. Of course, we have Google! As often as I use Google, I have found that this knowledge is often helpful.

Have you ever noticed people searching through their Bibles trying to find the book the teacher has asked the class to turn to? I do not work on a lot of memorization, but I do repeatedly teach the books of the Bible to our kindergarten through fifth grades. Not only is this beneficial, but the kids have fun learning (at least the way we teach them) and are proud of their accomplishment when they can say all 66 books! We sing the songs each week. Then our lower grades pull a card, a ball, a paper airplane or banana with a book of the Bible listed and tell me if the book is found in the old or new testament. Then they make a basket, soar through a hoop or feed the monkey. Our older kids race to find the books in their Bibles. As the kids get good at this, they start to tell me the name of the books that come before and after the one they chose.

Memorizing the books of the Bible is not essential to a person’s salvation, but it will help in finding the answers they need when situations arise. Let’s prepare our kids.

How can a young person keep their life pure? By living according to your word. Psalm 119:9 

This article originally appeared here.