My friend, Jake, is a young father I have tremendous respect for. Recently he asked me how to help his daughter, Meg, learn to read and enjoy the Bible. It’s a great question and related to a core value all Christian parents share: We believe a firm hold on Scripture is necessary to keep faith strong and alive.
The question is also related to what Jesus told one of his “dead” churches, Sardis, in the book of Revelation: Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again (3:3, NLT).
Our day too is replete with churches and associated universities that have abandoned the message of grace and truth they once embraced. Many, like Sardis, enjoy a reputation of being prestigious and “alive,” but, in reality, are spiritually “dead” (3:1).
So how do we fortify our children and help them get a firm hold on the Bible? Here’s the approach I took with my kids, Matt, Tim, and Emily when they were 7-10. It’s call The Five-fingered Grip. Although I don’t remember exactly where, I too learned it as a child. I’ll give the basic outline and then tell you how to have fun teaching it:
- Listen: “…faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (Rom. 10:17, NIV) The idea here is to listen attentively and respectfully in community to the Bible, viewing it as the fully trustworthy Word of God. Along with Christ-centered preaching (1 Cor. 1:18), it’s a primary way God speaks to and saves us.
- Read: “Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.” (1 Tim. 4:13, NLT) Reading is good but reading aloud is even better. Reading the Bible out loud engages more senses. It also increases literacy and helps make certain writing genres come alive, especially poetry.
- Study: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15, NIV) At some point, it’s good to start learning to read specific verses, chapters, paragraphs, and books more closely. Here are a few questions I recommend—especially the last one related to knowing God. It’s so important to teach our kids that Christianity is primarily about relationship, not rules:
- What does this passage mean?
- How does it apply to my life?
- Any promises for me to claim?
- Any commands or principles for me to keep?
- Any lessons for me to learn?
- Does it teach anything about God that helps me get to know him better?
- Memorize: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psa. 119:11, NIV) I’m amazed at how easy it was to memorize verses and specific passages as a child AND how much of what I memorized has stayed with me. You can read aloud together the Ten Commandments or Psalm 23 just once a day for 2-3 weeks and you will have it memorized. This is where our grip on God’s Word starts to grow strong. Also, this hiding his words in our heart helps practically in resisting temptation. And memorization is closely related to the last of our five-fingered grip:
- Meditate: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Josh. 1:8, ESV) The word for meditate here is related to the digestive habits of a cow chewing its cud (partly digested food). The cow chews, swallows, and then brings its’ cud back up to chew it some more. That may sounds gross (although most kids won’t think so!), but it’s exactly how meditation works: We think and reflect on God’s Word, mull it over in our minds, hide it in our hearts through memorization, and eventually digest it in a way that nourishes our soul and faith strong.
Now for the fun part. Here’s how to teach The Five-fingered Grip to your kids or grandkids: Using the outline above, grip a Bible in one hand with all five of your fingers and each time, after each of the five points, have them try to pull it out of your hand. At first, with just one finger, then two, then three, etc. You will be gripping the Bible and, again—at first with just one of their fingers (Listen)—they won’t be able to do anything. Using two of their fingers (Read), they still won’t be able to pull it away. By the time they get to four fingers (Memorize), however, and then five (Meditate) their grip will be a lot stronger. Have fun tug-a-war as they try to pull it out of your hand each time. Finally, when they get to five fingers let them win. They now have the five-fingered grip—something better than the Kung-Fu grip on my old G.I. Joe! Regarding this last item, I’m sorry you may have never heard of or had the privilege of owning this epic toy. 🙂 Let me expand your horizons with this classic commercial:
Back from the 70’s to 2017, here’s the feedback I got from Jake when he shared The Five-fingered Grip with Meg (By the way, they go rock climbing together so it took on even greater meaning!):
“Had a fun talk with Magnolia last night using the illustration you showed me. We talked about what it means to “set your mind on things above,” which segued into how we set our minds on things just like we hold things with our hand. She then tried to hold the Bible as we added one finger at a time, and I was pulling the Bible… She isn’t smiling in the picture [see above], but she was giggling through our Bible-tugging tests!”
Here’s something else you might try: On a half sheet of paper and as a handy reference, I laminated the wording and format below and had Matt, Tim, and Emily keep them in their Bibles:
The Five-Fingered Grip On God’s Word
Listen to it (Rom. 10:17)
Read it (1 Tim. 4:13)
Study it (2 Tim. 2:15)
Memorize it (Psalm 119:11)
Meditate on it (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2)
Questions for Study
- What does this passage mean?
- How does it apply to my life?
- Any promises for me to claim?
- Any commands or principles for me to keep?
- Any lessons for me to learn?
- Does it teach anything about God that helps me get to know him better?
For teens and adults that want to learn to read and enjoy the Bible more, I recommend How to Enjoy Your Bible by Keith Ferrin. My colleagues at work just went through this and got a lot out of it. Several were going to buy copies to give out at Christmas or use it to read through as a family.