Fish that eat people and Donkeys that talk

God gave us a book full of marvelous stories about kings and peasants, battles and miracles, fish that swallow people, donkeys that talk, and so on. He didn't give us a dry as dust book of rules and guidelines. In the Bible, God gave us a wonderful variety of literary forms, including poetry, visions, and proverbs, but especialy stories that bring life's guidebook to life and make it more interesting and effective.

Kids will forget some of our applications and lessons, no matter how sincere our efforts and their intentions, long before they forget the stories. These stories are meant to teach us and our children, but if we're continually light on the story and heavy on the lesson, we'll end up light on the effect. Be content to simply read the stories to your younger children, letting the lessons come in response to questions and to situations that give you an appropriate parallel.

It's important to involve both sides of the brain int he biblical process, the left brain for explanations, the right brain for images and stories. Especially for some kids, stories are the best teaching tool by far. If we as parents learn to enjoy the stories of the Bible as stories before we draw all kinds of applications, we'll help our kids build a reservoir on which they can draw in daily life, and on which we can draw when we talk with them about God's instruction manual.