Do we do Bible Study every day?
I think we have tried every approach that is bantered about in homeschooling and family circles. We have tried starting our day with Bible study. We have tried doing Bible study after lunch when the main academics are finished. We have done Bible study every day. We have done it three or four times a week. I’ve had issues or problems with them all!
So how often do we do Bible study? That might be so much easier to answer if we had a regular lifestyle with no interruptions. But we have many interruptions. Just a few weeks back, I had a particularly harrowing day and I took 16 phone calls. Now some would say that I shouldn’t answer the phone. But you know what? I was screening the calls. Those 16 calls were all from my family: my father, my husband, ‘Miss A’ or ‘Miss R’. Now how’s a gal supposed to fit in meal preparation, laundry, lessons, Bible study and stay sane? The only way that I know how to do all those things and stay sane is to not stress over the minor things…to understand that every day brings its own opportunities to minister, to serve, to love, to read and to pray.
My alarm goes off at 6am and I lie in bed, quietly starting to reflect upon the day’s upcoming events and my To-Do list. I ponder it all and commit the day to the Lord. Do you ever just wake up and say, “Good morning, Lord! Another day in which I have breath, another day to serve and give you praise. Thank you!” Well, this is often how my days starts. Yeah, and then I get out of bed 😀 and it goes downhill from there. 😀
Are you starting to see why I find the question so hard to answer? For us, there is not concrete answer…no one right way that has always worked! (Oh they all work for a time, but then life throws a curveball and we have had to adjust) Yet our children know that the Bible is the final authority in our lives. They know and understand that God is the Be All and End All (Alpha and Omega) of our life, that no decision is ever made without Him, that no action is taken without prayer consideration…that we believe the Bible (God’s Word: Jesus) is the greatest gift to the world and we should have a hunger to dig into its truths.
In reality, we don’t do new ‘Bible study lesson’ every day. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t engaging in spiritual activity, reading, thought or servanthood every day. We might start a new passage of Bible study on Monday. This means that we’ll read it and read it again. We’ll start to look for more information, and use various study books. We might watch a DVD or listen to an audio and in all this we’ll have lots of discussion. Then, we’ll go on to other lessons like Personal Development, Maths, English, Science or History. The next day, rather than go on to a new passage, we will finish studying the passage from the previous day. We might read the passage in another translation or continue to research. The children might write the passage out for copy work or dictation or do another activity. Then we discuss any application or relevance from the passage; we’ll share with each other what we learned from the passage. Later that night over dinner, we will share again.
It may appear as though we do more study on the first day, yet the second day is just as important. It is more about quality than quantity. I see many Bible study programs that claim to cover everything in a year or two and while this is very appealing to the homeschool teacher, a mother needs to be looking for quality, not quantity. I don’t want our Bible study to be just another subject like English or Science. I want to lead my children to the very feet of God…to lead them in His ways, to teach them of His grace and goodness and love. I don’t want them to complete a fill-in-the-bank workbook. (There is a time and place for these but I can’t just hand that to my child and consider that he has completed his Bible ‘subject’). I believe that the truths a person digs for himself is more likely to be life changing and is more easily remembered. It is true learning. We study the Bible that we may know God…that we may know the mind of Christ…that we may be transformed by the power of the gospel, and grow a Christian world view.
So I can’t offer any guidelines of how often you should study the Bible. I can offer encouragement to think of quality, not quantity…to think of truths learned and applied rather than ticks on a planning sheet.
Would you like to share how often you do Bible study with your children?
Further reading: Goals of our approach to Bible study, our approach, When, how and where do we study.
This is so true in our own home! I read a thread recently about family time and devotions. Most families shared that husbands led the family in this special time each day. I thought, “hey, what is wrong with my family? why doesn’t my husband do this?” and God showed me that the most important thing was to LIVE OUR FAITH infront of the children. Yes, Bible study is important and something that we try to do as often as we can but living the christian life is often the best example to our family members…….
Bible study everyday? There are about 3 things I do everyday;eat, breathe, and sleep(and not much of the last).
Since the words bible study is not listed together in the bible I would not sweat it. The point is to learn. Children need to learn the word. When are directed to teach our children. There is not in the Word of God that says a “Bible Study” everyday is the way this must be done. Maybe it is just quoting a verse, but I see nothing that states you need something formal everyday.
I have told all family and close friends that if they call and we don’t answer and it’s really important, to hang up after they go to voicemail and call RIGHT BACK. We take that as our signal to answer the phone. Otherwise, I try to call everyone back after we are finished with whatever it is we’re doing. 🙂
Love,
Becca