So I grew up in a
non-christian family. Up until I was 17
I had been in a Church about five times, once for a family funeral, once for Remembrance
Day as a Girl Guide and three times during my short lived career as a choir
girl! I could have told you the general
gist of what happen to Jesus and I could have told you a “Christian” point of
view on abortion or euthanasia as taught to me in Religious Studies. But I had no idea of the wealth of stories
that lies within the pages of the Bible.
Last week I felt really prompted to read the book of Esther. I’ve read it before but this time I really
read it…and I couldn’t put it down, it’s like an olden day Eastenders! There
are parties where everyone gets drunk, there’s sex and affairs, people going
around telling lies behind each others’ backs, murder and betrayal, to name
just a few of the exciting storylines that so beautifully adorn our TV screens
these days and the book of Esther!
Anyway my point is
this: If only I had known earlier in life that the Bible wasn’t boring! It’s full of everyday heroes, heroines and villains,
successes and failures, life and death…but not in a Robin Hood or a Batman kind
of way. As a Christian I grieve for my
non-christian up-bringing! I could have hidden under my duvet and had
adventures with Jonah in the belly of the Whale, I could have put on my mum’s
clothes and makeup and paraded around as Queen Esther and I would have loved to
gather two of every soft toy and make an ark under the dining table! But childhood games aside what I really
missed out on was learning from all these people and their real life stories
that Jesus is Lord of everything.
So what this blog is
really about is recommending a couple of children’s books. There are two in particular which I think
have hit the theological nail on the head and retell the stories of the Bible
not only in an adventurous manner to capture our little one’s imaginations but
also pull out the strands of God that
run through every story.
The first is “The
Jesus Story Book Bible” not only is it beautifully illustrated but I can
honestly say that I learnt a lot from reading it. It has brought me to tears
because the author allows God’s face to shine so brightly in every story and it
has made me so thankful to have a living relationship with Jesus that my jaw
aches through smiling so much. It is a
book that I know will faithfully teach my baby girl time and again that God and Jesus work in all kinds of situations and that they promise to work in ours.
The second is “Stories
Jesus Told”. This book is great because it
demonstrates that Jesus’ stories aren’t designed to teach us to follow the
rules in order to get into heaven but to trust in God’s gracious provision of
Jesus himself as the only way. Each story ends by telling us a truth about
God and about ourselves found in the story and leaves it open for us to respond
to God’s grace.
Both books are unique
in that they do more than regular children’s bible story books. They begin by assuming that a child can
understand that they are a sinner in need of rescue. Both books set out to take
children on a journey which can help them to respond to God who offers
forgiveness and freedom from sin and its guilt and shame. They are refreshing and imaginative and dare
to go beyond the face of the story and delve into its everyday application for
children.
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