How to Get Your Child Excited About God’s Great Story

Posted on Jul 28, 2022 Topic : Men's Christian Living, Women's Christian Living
Posted by : Paul Basden

Little ones love stories. They like to hear them, watch them, and learn to read them. But when it comes to the Bible, they often get bored. Why is that?

The Bible is long. Really long. Even children’s Bibles are long.
There are a gazillion characters. Who can remember them all? More importantly, which ones do we really need to remember?
The plotline is filled with twists and turns. The big picture is hard to see. The story arc is easily obscured.
God’s Word is often seen as a set of rules, not a great story of love and redemption.
Little ones don’t know that they have a place in God’s great story.

No wonder kids get bored with the Bible!

But there’s a way to overcome that barrier. You can find images and word-pictures that help your little ones understand the basics of their big, heavy, long Bible.

Here’s an example. In Finding Your Place in God’s Great Story for Little Ones, we landed on the image of “party” to describe God’s acts of creation (Genesis 1-2) and recreation (Revelation 21-22). Notice how the image connects to little ones:

God Creates: Ever since … well, forever, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit have been having a party in heaven. God is love, and he has always loved us, so he wanted to invite as many people as possible to this party. So he created humans and gave us a beautiful home—earth.
God Wins: How does God’s Great Story end? God wins! Jesus will come back to earth and make everything perfect. Then we will be happier than we ever dreamed. Jesus invites all of us to celebrate with him at a huge victory party. Everyone is invited, especially you. All you have to do is say yes.

I don’t know if “party” resonates with you, but I’ll bet it does with your little kids. They love to eat, play, create, dance, laugh—i.e., they love to party. It’s a metaphor that gives fresh meaning to the beauty and glory that God displayed at creation and will again display at recreation.

As a Christian parent, if you want to help your little ones know and love the God of the Bible, then find ways to communicate God's great story to them that will grab their attention. Your kids will be glad you did!