In the beginning…….

Recently, I asked our daughters if they remembered what “sticker” was identified with the Scripture verse, Genesis 1:1. They all responded with the “snail” sticker. Now you are likely wondering what in the world is he talking about! Well, you have to go back to the “beginning.” The beginning of when our girls were just growing up; even before they were able to read and write. Marian and I wanted our children to know God’s word. So, when they were in the “preschool days”, Marian put together a number of Scripture verses on cards. And to help add some fun, “stickers” were attached to each of the different Scripture verses. Our girls ended up identifying the verse with the different stickers. The Genesis 1:1 verse was remembered as the one with the snail sticker and they can still quote the verse.

In our early years of parenting, Marian and I sought the counsel of godly people to help us in the great adventure of raising our children. We knew that we only had one shot at this and we wanted to do our best to get it right. We were encouraged to start early and to look into the Scriptures for guidance. What does God say about this whole parenting thing? So that’s what we did. We had a concordance and looked up verses that pertained to family, parents, father, mother, and children (son, daughter). That was a great start and gave us a beginning foundation. We also sought to ask others whom we respected for advice and they were glad to share about the lessons they had learned through the years. A godly woman who had taught and directed Christian education for many years provided verses that would be appropriate for children during their early years of development. She gave us several verses to consider but the one that stood out to me at the time seemed unusual. Why would she include this one? It was Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Years later I began to truly appreciate the importance of that verse through the experience of a missionary family with New Tribes Mission. As the father explained their method of sharing the gospel with a “new tribe” of people in Papua New Guinea, they did not begin with the New Testament. They started with Genesis and it took many months before they even began to talk about Jesus, the Son of God. They needed to start with God, the Creator and His work on earth before He sent His Son to redeem mankind.

Teaching our children the Christian worldview starts at the beginning of their life and will continue for the remainder of their days. In western civilization, it is not essential that we begin teaching our children with the Old Testament. The Bible is still very much a part of our culture and society contrary to the efforts of many today. But our teaching will need to entail the whole Bible; both Old and New Testaments. Teaching our children is certainly our responsibility, but it is also a great privilege that we have as parents. To be able to share the “good news” with our children. To know God and to make Him known……there is no greater adventure!