According to Yeshua, we need to bring our children to Him because His Kingdom belongs to our children (Mark 10:14). If the Kingdom of God is going to prosper and grow and transform the world, the next generation has to grasp it.
To teach our children about the Kingdom of God, we need to teach them about Yeshua. To teach them about Yeshua, we need to teach them the Kingdom of God. So, how do we do that? How often? What are practical ways to teach our children about our Messiah and his Kingdom?
The answers to “how” and “how often” are in one of my favorite Bible passages: Deuteronomy 6:7. Here is what it says in the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition:
You shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the [minds and] hearts of your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. (Deuteronomy 6:7)
In others words, teach using repetition, intentionality, attention, and consistency. As the verse says, you need to impress your children with Yeshua. Everywhere and anywhere, and at all times.
Impress them by doing what? What are some practical ways to inscribe our Messiah into the minds and hearts of our little ones? How can we bring them to Yeshua without hindrance?
Below is a list of several ways we can accomplish this task. And since alliteration is a wonderful form of repetition, let’s call them …
Seven Solutions to Schooling Your “Seed” About the Savior!
1. Scripture
Using the Word of God is the most important way we can inscribe Yeshua into the hearts and minds of our children. In fact, it is the very thing that Deuteronomy 6:7 says to impress upon our children.
As Paul wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). All Scripture is also useful for teaching a child about and leading a child to Messiah. The entire Bible is about Him. So, what are some ways to get the Word into the hearts of our children? Read from the Bible daily. Read it to them and with them. Make the words of the Bible part of your conversations. Make it a natural, normal thing.
Teaching them memory verses is another good route to go. There are many ways to teach children memory verses. One especially effective way to have our children memorize Scripture is to put verses to music, which brings us to the next way of teaching our children about Yeshua …
2. Songs
Songs are a very effective way to teach the Word and the way to Yeshua. The combination of rhyme, rhythm, and repetition makes their words easy to memorize. Think about it—do we get monologues stuck in our head? Large portions of Bible passages? No, we get songs stuck in our heads. (Two words: Baby Shark. Bwahahahahaha!)
Songs are poetry put to music. This is why so much of the Bible, as well as ancient mythologies and histories, is in the form of epic poetry. This is why Hebrew is a melodic language that is often chanted or sung. Psalms are songs. Hymns were once written with great theological truths. If you slept during the sermon, you could still learn something from praise and worship.
So many songs teach us great and simple things about Yeshua. I know hardcore atheists who know the words to “Jesus Loves Me,” or “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” or “Amazing Grace.” And yes, “Jesus” is okay to sing, but you can also substitute “Yeshua” and still stick to the classics.
You could also make up your own songs. Who knows, in the process you could come up with something even catchier than Baby Shark! (I did it again, didn’t I?)
Whether you go with a classic or your own made up ditty, teach your children about Yeshua by singing to them. Also, tell them …
3. Stories
While some books of the Bible are epic poetry, others are stories. Parables are stories, and parables were Yeshua’s main method to teach about the Kingdom. This is why parables are the best scriptures we can read, and psalms are the greatest songs we can sing.
Before someone wrote down the words of God, generations passed them down as stories and songs. The same is true of most of the history we know. It is likely you know more about your family history from stories than anything else. Stories are a wonderful way to teach the truths of the Word and the Living Word—Yeshua. Stories teach truth, share news, pass information and place them in a child’s mind and heart.
There are so many ways to tell the story of Yeshua. I like to think that puppets are pretty effective. Or singing vegetables. Movies. Books. There is a wide variety of mediums and methods to tell stories that lead children to Yeshua. The best method of storytelling is to tell your own story. Tell the story of your journey to Yeshua.
Tell stories. Have your children tell you stories. Stories are everywhere. Some of the best stories come from everyday …
4. Situations
Find ways to connect your daily activities, issues, problems, and pastimes to Yeshua. Look for the “teaching moment,” as they say. You don’t have to be heavy-handed about it; again, keep it natural and normal.
You teach a child about Yeshua by how you handle or approach a given situation. Are you dealing with it in a way that glorifies God? Not to be cliche, but are you handling it with a “What Would Yeshua Do?” mindset? Look for opportunities every day to bring Yeshua into the everyday.
As you do that, though, be mindful that you can show Him in every situation. You can sing about Him. You can tell great stories. You can quote the entire Bible, but you—we—fail if you aren’t bearing His image in your …
5. Self
Yeshua said that if you’ve seen him, you’ve seen the Father (John 14:9). The apostle Paul said to imitate him as he imitates Messiah (1 Corinthians 11:1). God created us to bear His image to the world—especially to our children (Genesis 1:26).
We are the greatest testimony of our Messiah to our children. This means we have to be His disciples. We have to allow him to shine through us in everything we do. Does that mean we walk in perfection? We cannot. But let Messiah be evident in how we restore His image when we do mess up. As Paul said, encourage them to imitate you as you imitate Messiah.
Also, let Yeshua be evident in how you deal with our children falling short as well. Show them the mercy, patience, and forgiveness Yeshua has shown you. And again, when you fail to do so, make it right by asking them to show you mercy, patience, and forgiveness. Teach them about Yeshua by leading them to act like Yeshua toward you. Teach them about Yeshua by teaching them to …
6. Serve
Yeshua taught great truths about himself and the Kingdom through his stories. He demonstrated those truths by his service. Our actions are going to far outweigh our words when we teach our children about Messiah. Yeshua backed up his words about serving God and others by going all the way to the cross. This took a tremendous amount of humility.
It takes a lot of humility to serve others—especially your family. But it is the best situation you can find yourself in when you are trying to lead your family to Yeshua. Lead them by serving them. And the best way you can serve them and gain the humility to do so is to …
7. Supplicate
That is, pray. As the very wise and entertaining MC Hammer once sang, “We got to pray (pray) just to make it today.” (See, songs stick in your head!)
Pray for your children to receive Yeshua as their Lord and Savior. Pray for them to serve and follow Yeshua. Pray scriptures over them. Pray for the stories you are going to tell them and teach them to tell. Pray for the songs you and they are going to sing. Pray for and in the situations that come your way. Pray for yourself. Pray for your service to them and as a service to them. Pray for them, with them, and about them. Teach them to pray. Teach them to pray as Yeshua prayed so that they learn about Yeshua. Supplicate.
Finally, in case I haven’t said it enough (but it does bear repeating), use these methods over and over again. Scripture. Songs. Stories. Situations. Self. Serve. Supplicate. Sharpen with them. Stick with them daily. Do them when you are sitting at home, walking along the way, getting up in the morning, and heading off to bed. If you do, you will succeed at teaching your children about Yeshua.
Bringing children—our children especially—to Yeshua is not a one-time thing. It is a daily thing. It is also the most important and greatest thing we can do for the Kingdom of God on this earth. It is our mandate as parents. It is our mandate as the image bearers of God. Charles Spurgeon put it this way:
You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, and training them up in God’s fear, and minding the house, and making your household a church for God, as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of hosts.
Impress your children with Yeshua.
Stan Randall is a husband, a father, and a follower of Yeshua Messiah. He is an evangelist and teacher with a passion for preparing the next generation for the Kingdom of God. His motto is, “Preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use puppets.” As such, Stan is the creator and producer of Torah Puppets. It is a program for families designed to teach the foundational truths of God’s Word in a fun and funny way. Stan is also a writer and speaker who would love to bring his ministry and his message (and his puppets!) to your congregation or conference.