As part of our “Radical” New Year series at church, everyone was challenged to read the whole Bible in the coming year. We have a One Year Bible for Kids that we bought a couple of years ago (best laid plans of mice and men, right?), so we decided to get serious and accept the challenge.

 

I’m happy to report that the daily reading has become part of our bedtime routine, and on the off-chance that we forget, the boys will remind us. In fact, the older three like taking turns reading that day’s passage. Last Sunday, the pastor asked who was keeping up with their reading, and it made me smile when all of the boys raised their hands.

 

Tonight was the first night that No. 3 (the 1^st grader) read the whole entry by himself (with a little help from the 11yo on some tough words, but for the most part by himself)! It took a lot longer than a more fluent reader, but it was worth it to hear him reading. He was so proud of himself, and so was I.

 

We’re up to Moses dividing the Red Sea (what an amazing passage!), and I love that the boys recognize some of the stories. Tonight, No. 5 whispered to me while No. 3 was reading, “Is tomorrow Joshua? Because Joshua comes after Moses.” I whispered back that we still had to get to the part where Moses gets the 10 Commandments, and then we’ll get to Joshua pretty soon. He nodded and replied, “Oh, yeah – right.” 🙂

 

I don’t mean to over-analyze things, but something interesting occurred to me tonight. I was thinking about God’s Word and how the Bible plays such an important role in our spiritual development. There are passages about hiding God’s words in our hearts, claiming his promises, quoting Scripture to rebuke the enemy, etc. It’s powerful! What really hit me was the thought that if the boys have God’s Word in their hearts, then there is less room for the enemy to infiltrate. It’s a seed that we’re planting & fertilizing, which I hope & pray will spread like clover and uproot anything that the enemy is trying to cultivate. There’s more to that statement than I can really delve into here, but the thought was a pleasant reminder to me that God is mightier than even our heredity. He can break the strongholds of generations past. Amen!