Talk, talk, talk about Jesus!

This week we are discussing Jesus as a kid. One of the things I hope children understand is Jesus was fully human. It's hard to wrap our adult minds around. I know its even tougher for kids especially when there's not much in the Bible about Jesus as a boy. Sometimes we just forget he turned two and probably cried when He wanted His way. He fell down learning to walk and had chores around the house. His father taught Him the family business, and He attended school too. These are the things children can connect with in His life. Jesus came into the world just like the rest of us. He grew up like us too. I'm thinking it was probably a pretty ordinary life, just like ours. 

Yes, there were special things about Him. Times when He spoke and it must have took Mary's breath away. Little reminders He was more than ordinary---He was fully God. Parents experience the same thing in their kids at times. Think about those moments when your child does or says something that points you straight to God. Or something they do to reveal the gifts God has placed in their lives. It's as if God whispers, "hey, remember, I created this little one."

One of the most important things we can do is encourage our children in those gifts. Teaching our children to follow Jesus is so much more than good night prayers and church on Sunday. Its the daily living out of our ordinary stuff in a way that reflects who we are in Christ and who He is in us. It's finding God in the normal everyday and talking about it.

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children,talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.--Deut. 11:18-21

You don't have to plan sit down devotionals every night... though I think it would be great, I've never been successful at this one. God is about our everyday, every moment life. Talking with your kids about it helps to open their eyes to His presence in skinned knees, daily chores, as well as the special moments.

So this is my challenge for you in 2016. Talk... talk.... talk to your children about Jesus. In the morning when you rise, in the car on the way to school, after soccer, during supper, before you go to bed.  Write a scripture on something and put it somewhere in your home where they can see it. Play Christian music on the radio. Ask them about the lessons they are learning here at mini-Methodists or at Sunday school. You will never regret taking this challenge, for it comes with a promise:

"so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth."

See you Wednesday!