Many of us have taken on the challenge to read the entire bible in a year. If you were anything like me
some of those days my mind was on overload from the day, and I was already thinking about tomorrow.
Being task-oriented, I would open the book and trudge through the chapter so I could proudly say at the
end of the year, “I did it!” but to be honest many of those chapters were just a blur.
But what if??? What if you were to spend the entire year reading just one book of the Bible? What if
you were to deep dive deep into what these people’s lives really looked like? What if you learned their
customs, traditions, surroundings, and lifestyle? What if you learned what an average day in
the life of the folks in the Old Testament was all about?
That my friend is “Children’s Quizzing”. The children are spending the entire year in the books of “1st
and 2nd Samuel. They are learning about what a life lived for God looks like. They are studying what
obedience to God looks like. They are learning that actions have consequences that you must live with
for your entire life. We are spending time discussing all the people in Samuel, so they are more than just
names on a page. The more you talk about them, the more they come alive.
The children are also memorizing verse after verse. What seems nearly impossible for us adults appear
to come so easy for them. Just ask them; they will be happy to recite all they have memorized for you.
We are just getting started but they already know what it’s like to cry out to the Lord in prayer for the
desires of your heart like Hannah. They can see what it’s like to live your whole life for God like Samuel.
They know the character flaws of people like Peninnah, Hophni, and Phinehas. Do you?
Adult quizzing anyone?
~Joyce Koolhaas