I once met a lady who was surprised that her son didn’t know anything about Christianity. She was a lapsed believer and her ex-husband mocks those who do have a faith. She was surprised to learn that her son did not know the Lord’s Prayer. She was also surprised that he had never heard the stories of Jonah and the whale or of Noah for instance. She also is dismayed when her son admits that he doesn’t believe in God.

The problem is that she’s never taught her son about God or any of the stories in the Bible. Her ex-husband certainly wouldn’t. She never took her son to church so he never would have heard the stories from someone else. Public schools do not teach Bible stories either.

How could anyone like something they have never been introduced to? For instance, how can you know if you like to eat pizza if no one has ever given you a slice of pizza to eat?

Teaching children about the stories of the Bible and the love of God isn’t something that we can take for granted. It is better for them to hear this message twice rather than not at all. It is incumbent upon us to share with them the things that have helped us in our faith journey.

In the same way that we would teach them healthy things to eat and share insights on exercise or ways to save money for retirement, we should share the stories of our faith with our children. We share the things that we know to be good. We know God is good, and we know the message of God’s love for us through Jesus to be good. This is something that we can’t leave to chance.