Childrenareimportanttohumans,tofamilies,andtoGodinJesusChrist.AsitiswrittenintheGospelofMark:
[Jesus]saidtohisdisciples,“Letthechildrencometome,anddonotstopthem,becausetheKingdomofGodbelongstosuchasthese.IassureyouthatwhoeverdoesnotreceivetheKingdomofGodlikeachildwillneverenterit.”Thenhetookthechildreninhisarms,placedhishandsoneachofthem,andblessedthem.(Mark10:14-16)
AsJesusdemonstratedaparticularlove,blessing,andwelcometochildrenintotheKingdomofGod,theWordofGoditselfhasbeenparaphrasedorsummarizedinmanydifferentversionsatachildren’sreadinglevelsotheycanreaditforthemselves.Indoingso,thetextoftheBiblecanbemademorewelcomingtochildren.
TomaketheBiblemoreaccessibletochildren,someeditionsoftheBibleispresentedwithvibrantartandillustrations,whileothersuseasimplersetofvocabularytomakereadingtheBiblemoreageappropriate.Hereareafewexamples:
...Iwantedtowriteachildren’sBiblestorybookthatfirstandforemosttoldtheGreatStoryoftheBible—thestoryrunningunderallthestoriesoftheBiblelikeagoldenstream—thestoryofhowGodloveshischildrenandcomestorescuethem.TheStorythatatthecenterhasababy,thechilduponwhomeverythingwoulddepend—Jesus,theonly,realtrueHerooftheBible.IwantedaBibleStorybookthatwas,liketheBibleis,notallaboutusandwhatweshouldbedoing—butaboutGod,andwhathehasdone.
IfyoulosethegreaterstoryoftheBible,thedangerisyoustartthinkingthatit’sallaboutyouandwhatyoushouldorshouldn’tbedoing.Youcanstarttothinkit’sabookofrulestofollow(ofcoursetherearerulesinitandtheyshowushowlifeworksbestbutifwecouldsaveourselvesbyfollowingtherules,Jesusneverwouldhavehadtocome);oryoucanthinkit’sabookofheroestocopy(clearlythatcan’tberightthough.SomanyofthepeopleGodusesarenotheroesatall—they’rebrokensinners!).
Withsomanytochoosefrom,howcanparentschooseagoodBibleforyourchildrenYes,youcanrefertoanonlinestore’sreviewsoryoucouldrefertolistsofrecommendedchildren’sBible,likeoneofthese:
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ReadingtheBibletogethertransformedSaddlebackChurch.Nowtheywanttogiveawayeverythingyouneedtoseeitignite...
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