These words that I am giving you today are to be in your
heart.
Repeat them to your children.
Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you
walk along the road,
when you lie down
and when you get up.
Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol
on your forehead.
Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your
city gates.
(Deuteronomy 6:6-9 CSB17)
We need God’s Word in our hearts. When the
truth of God is worked down into our hearts it changes how we think, how we
act, what we say, where we go, and everything else about us. God’s word in our
hearts will protect us from temptations and produce in us the wonderful fruits
of the Spirit.
Getting God’s Word into human hearts doesn’t
happen automatically or quickly. Having a Bible sitting on a shelf in your
house won’t do it. God gave us instructions through Moses for how to get His
Word into human hearts. He specifically tells us to start the process with our
children.
One of the main methods God gives us to get
His truth, His instructions, and His promises down into our hearts is very
simple: saturate our lives with His Word. Talk about the Bible all the time.
Have Bible verses written all over the place.
I thank God that VBS is a great example of
putting this important principle into action. In VBS we teach God’s Word to
children. We project His Word onto screens. We sing songs based on His Word. We
lead the children in memorizing parts of His Word. During VBS, God’s Word is
getting into the hearts of children (and adults, too!).
I thank God for the children’s programs,
including VBS, that I was a part of as a child. God has used the Bible truths I
learned there to shape my entire life. Of course, getting keeping God’s Word in
our hearts is a lifelong process, and as adults we are called to continually
meditate on God’s Word (Psalm 1:2). In my case, that lifelong process was given
a big boost by VBS and the children’s programs at the church I grew up in. The
truths I learned as a child in VBS helped me through my teen years and college,
through five years in the Navy on Submarines, through Bible Seminary, through
fourteen years of serving the Lord in Indonesia, and for the last 9 years of
pastoral ministry. We don’t know where the Lord will lead the children in our
VBS. But wherever He leads them, and whatever challenges they face, they will
be better equipped to face them with God’s word in their hearts.
May God bless all who serve in VBS! And May
God bless our children and transform their lives through His beautiful Word!
Another blog post about VBS:
Other Blog Posts about Getting God’s Word
into our Hearts
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