Why Are Bible Devotions For Kids Important?

Working at different camps over the past few years, I’ve seen some interesting responses to the presentation of the Gospel. What I’ve discovered when talking with some campers is that they really don’t know much about the Bible, God, or why one needs salvation. After an encounter with one twelve year old determined not to believe in God, I saw a need to go back to the beginning, telling who God is, what the Bible is, why we need salvation, and why Jesus had to die. As we progressed through the Bible in cabin devotions, I was surprised to get confused questions from some who had been raised in church. They had never had the overall message of the Bible given to them, and as they began to see the events unfold, they learned things that they’d never known were important to understanding the Gospel.

Believers take note! It’s important for our children to be studying the Bible in a regular devotion time, just as it’s important for parents to be talking about spiritual things with them! Why?

1. Kids aren’t always responsive when parents are talking to them. They tend to have a “zone” where they go when they’ve “heard this before.” I’m not saying that parents shouldn’t spend time talking to their kids; the Bible is very specific about teaching the children: “…give them training in the teaching and fear of the Lord.”(Ephesians 6:4) “…so that hearing my words they may go in fear of me all the days of their life on earth and give this teaching to their children.”(Deuteronomy 4:10). Kids like to discover things, and what better place for discovery than God’s Word? They will run across verses or passages that they don’t understand, and will come to you for help in understanding. They won’t enter their “zone” at this point because they’ve come seeking an answer and will listen until they have it, and they won’t likely forget what you’ve told them because it was their own discovery.

2. Like the campers in the story at the beginning, there are many kids today who don’t have an overall picture of the Bible, and so they don’t think about making it personal. A kid in Sunday school class may be able to quote Bible verses and tell you that Jesus died on the cross, but many times it’s because he’s been told they are the right answers and hasn’t been shown how to truly make it personal. Getting the kids into the Bible on a regular basis (besides church) teaches them to look for what God is telling them, helps them make it personal, and shows them that believing is a lifestyle and not just a Sunday habit. “If a child is trained up in the right way, even when he is old he will not be turned away from it.”(Proverbs 22:6) “And that from the time when you were a child, you have had knowledge of the holy Writings, which are able to make you wise to salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus.”(II Timothy 3:15)

If you haven’t done so already, get your kids started on a personal Bible devotion time. I would suggest beginning with a book that helps take them through an overview of the Bible. This will give them a firm foundation to build on, and will help answer the most important questions about God, the Bible, sin, heaven and hell, and why Jesus had to die.

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