Dear Fathers and Mothers,
This section of the Remnant is especially for you. We are attempting to gather meaningful lessons from our readers that will help you teach your children. God’s Word instructs us about our responsibility to teach and train the children. The old English word “catechize” is very descriptive of this task. It means to teach Christian principles by questions and answers. The idea is to get the children thinking, talking, and answering questions, with the purpose of teaching them the truth of the Bible. The goal is to get them involved in this interaction. Take up these few suggestions we have offered, and God will give you other ones on your own. We have been very encouraged by the letters we received from parents who have been using this section, with much success.
--The Editors
God bless you as you teach!
Controlling Our Thoughts
II Corinthians 10: 5 teaches us to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. This concept is often hard for a child to understand. Here is a way that they can grasp the principle of watching over the thoughts that pass through the mind. If you will do this a couple of times during the formative years, they will never forget it. You will need someone old enough to carry out instructions and remember what you want them to say. Your helpers name will be “a thought.” Sometimes he will be a good thought and sometimes he will be a bad thought. When he is a good thought, you will embrace him, and welcome him. When he is a bad thought, you will chase him away with a broom. Now picture the scene. You are sitting with the family at devotion time. Then your helper walks in humming. Ask him, “Who are you?” He should answer you with his name. “I am a thought.” When you hear this, grab him and wrestle him to the ground. Then ask him, “What kind of thought are you?” Your helper should answer with an actual thought, good or bad, such as, “I don’t like my parents.” When you hear this, grab the broom and chase him out of the room. This little exercise can be repeated several times, alternating between good and bad thoughts. If he gives you a good thought, then you bless him and give him a seat. Explain to the children, that this happens in our minds. Sometimes it is just our minds thinking, but other times it is Satan putting bad things there to get us to think on them.
Kindness to Animals
For this lesson, you will want to secure any kind of baby animal you can find. It is very important to use a baby. This will do two things for you. One, you will have the children’s undivided attention. Two, the baby animal will evoke sympathy and tenderness in every heart, even in the boys. After you have allowed everyone to enjoy this little animal for a while, take your Bible and turn to Proverbs 12:10. This verse is perfect to explain God’s heart concerning animals. We can see that it is righteous to care for the animals. The care and concern we have for the animals when they are young should also be felt when they are grown. This is a good time to affirm responsibilities at chore times. To forget to give food or water to the animals is not right. When you have finished teaching some of these positive lessons, take time to speak strongly about the sin of being cruel to animals; the delight that boys sometimes have when they are mean to God’s creatures. To bring the element of the creator into the lesson has a sobering influence on anyone who enjoys such evil. Some boys have a real problem with cruelty to animals, and it is good to affirm this lesson often. These patterns reach further than animals when they grow older, if not subdued when young. There are actually two lessons here if you take some time and develop them.
Sinking Sand
Sit the family down for devotions as usual. After the time of singing is over, announce to them all that we are going to have our lesson today out at the sandbox. They will light up with interest and joy at the thought of it. Some preparation must be done ahead of time so that the lesson flows along quickly. If not, you will have them all playing in the sandbox in short order. When you arrive at the location, proceed to build a small house on the sand with wooden blocks. After you have finished the house, open your Bible and read the verses from the Sermon on the Mount. Spend a short time teaching what Jesus said, and how it applies to our lives. Then take some kind of a water source and pour it upon the house. You must have enough water flow that is begins to wash the sand away from under the house. As this happens, the house will fall to pieces before their very eyes. Oh, what a teachable moment you have. Turn back the text again and make further applications.
Pull the Weeds When They are Small
You will have to wait a couple of months before you can do this lesson, but I assure you, it will be worth the wait. When the time of weeds has returned again, and it will I assure you. After you have had a time of singing with the family, march them all out to the garden for a very important lesson. You can allow most everyone to be involved in this one, as there will be plenty of weeds growing—right? Locate some of the big weeds first, and let them try to pull them out, each taking a turn. You want them to see for themselves, how hard it is to pull the big ones. When you feel that point has been clearly made, allow them to pull some of the small ones. Now you want to go back into the house and have a teaching on dealing with needs in our lives while they are small. Note that you often need help to deal with them if you wait till they get well-rooted in the heart. Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence,” is a good verse to consider. You can bring out the importance being open and honest with mom and dad about our struggles. You can tell them, “Don’t let little feelings of disrespect or anger grow into big weeds that are hard to pull.”
Listening in Prayer
The truth that you want to teach here is the importance of listening to God while you are having a time of prayer. Many people spend all their time in prayer making requests to God. Have your wife do a little preparation for this one. She should make a list of about twenty things that she wants to talk about on the phone with a friend. An outline of subjects is enough, and then she can fill in during the lesson. When it is time to teach, tell the children that you want them to listen to mother talk on the phone. They should listen carefully, and see if they can tell what is wrong with the conversation. Your wife should talk non-stop without listening, till she is finished with her list, and then hang up. The children will know what is wrong before she gets done. Then you ask them what they think. Turn to the Bible and refer to verses about listening to God, hearing His still, small voice, etc. Bring out the point of how it must seem to God when all He hears is requests during prayer. No one comes to listen or to have interactive fellowship with Him. It is like we are using God for our own plans and wishes.
