Bedtime Stories
Bedtime is not complete without a picture book being carefully selected from the bookshelf and read from cover to cover.
Reference: Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. (Mark 12:1 TNIV Bible)
Explore: With a four and five year old living in the house, stories have become very important. Bedtime is not complete without a picture book being carefully selected from the bookshelf and read from cover to cover.
It’s been thirty years since I’ve heard some of the more traditional children’s stories, and yet, I still remember the main themes of the tales. From “A Very Hungry Caterpillar” to “The Cat in the Hat”, the stories are still fun and interesting to children (and adults) today.
Application: It was not by chance that Jesus told stories in his preaching and teaching. The Creator of the Universe knew that this was the best way to teach us humans.
A story can be filled with meaning, can be easily remembered, and can get a message across without pointing fingers. When we are trying to communicate with other people we forget about the importance of stories.
We think that stories are only for children, yet they can impact everyone. If it’s good enough for Jesus, then it’s good enough for me. We all have stories from our own lives that help to explain faith, let’s not keep them to ourselves, but look to advance the Kingdom of God by sharing our stories.
Prayer: Lord God, thank You for being the ultimate teacher. May we not just learn from what You said but how You said it. Amen.
What is a story that has had an impact on you?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.
1 comment:
My kids love bedtime stories. Actually, we have 5 of them, so that’s a lot of reading. LOL! So we started a new ritual. Bedtime audiobooks. There’s lots of sites to download them, but we use one site in particular because the stories are all original and free. Here’s the link, if anyone is interested. http://www.twirlygirlshop.com/moral-stories-for-kids