Jesus told the religious leaders of His time, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. ” (John 5:39,40)
I have been in churches that place a great deal of focus on the Scriptures. The children of the church are taught to learn the books of the Bible, to memorize verses and to be able to find them quickly, to know who “begat” whom, and to be able to answer trivia questions about Bible facts and spiritual truths. It has seemed to me, an observer in those settings, that the focus was on the Scriptures as if “in them you have eternal life.”
But Jesus went on to say, “These are the scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.” These materials focus on knowing and loving the Living God. As we study the scriptures, the focus in each lesson will be to see how this story leads us to knowing and loving God more deeply. We will be teaching the children how to use their Bibles, to memorize verses, and to know the happenings in the Biblical narrative, but the focus will always be how to deepen our walk with God.
The Bible is like a treasure map. It leads us to the treasure of knowing, loving, and walking with the Living God. The map is not the treasure, but without it the treasure will not be found.
It is easy to fall into the pattern of using the scriptures as illustrations to teach our children to “be good”, but we as adults have found that without God’s transforming power in our lives we do not have the power to remake ourselves. These materials will not focus on teaching our children to “be good”. Instead we have the amazing opportunity to introduce them to the Lord, the Transformer, who makes all things new.
Instead of teaching the Bible as a book of stories about God, Guide to the Treasure teaches the Bible as one story, God’s Story, with the introduction in the first chapters of Genesis and the conclusion in the last chapter of Revelation. Watch in amazement as God’s plan for the world is revealed!
God’s desire for all the nations is not only found in the Great Commission. It is a theme that is woven into every part of Scripture. God’s Word, Guide to the Treasure emphasizes both sides of the blessing of God. Examples: “I will bless you – so that the world will be blessed through you.” “I will save you – so that they will know that I AM the Lord.” “You are blessed – to be a blessing.” this curriculum not only emphasizes this two-sided blessing in the stories from the Bible, but includes many stories of missionaries taking God’s Word to the world.
Jesus told the story of a man who found a treasure in a field. He quickly buried the treasure again, hurried home, with great joy sold everything he had to purchase that field, and the treasure was his. We are offering our children the treasure of knowing and walking with the LIVING GOD. This treasure will not disappoint. This treasure is worth selling all for. Let us boldly offer our children the Living Word.
If you have a question or comment, email me at guidetothetreasure@gmail.com.
