I have really appreciated the Find It Here marked copies of John and Romans.  I’ve had several opportunities to go through the marked scriptures with older children over the past few weeks.  The King James Version of the scriptures actually provides some great opportunities to talk about what each verse means.

On Saturday I served as a “shepherd” during the Shelby Touched Twice Clinic.  I was assigned to a mother and three children. The oldest, a sixth grader, was the translator for the family.  As we waited for their turn for a vision screening, I showed the marked copy of John and Romans to this very sharp young lady and asked if she would like to read the verses.  She was quite interested and with a few interruptions, we were able to read all nine of the scripture verses.  Asking her to read, then tell me what she thought the verses meant, gave opportunity for us to discuss them.  Though her family attends a church, I felt sure this was the first time she had really had the gospel presented to her. 

Then on Sunday evening in Children in Action, after learning about a missionary, I gave each of the children one of the marked Scripture portions.  We have included an invitation to Easter services, so we had a discussion about the events of Holy Week.  These same children had participated in the morning service waving palms as the choir sang.  I wanted to be sure that they got the whole picture.

I told my kids that they can be like a missionary by sharing the Scripture portion and invitation to Easter services.  We then proceeded to go through the marked verses, with the children taking turns reading the verses aloud.  When we got to the word “perish,” I was straightforward about exactly what that meant.  I tell kids that they are going to die and that every person they know is going to die.  I explained what it means to spend eternity without God. 

As I explained, their eyes got big, and then one of the girls blurted out, “Then we need to tell everybody about Jesus!”  I then went on to say, “That’s right, and that’s why we send missionaries.” 

Each child left with a commitment to share the scripture portion and invitation with a neighbor or family member.  Most knew exactly who they were going to share it with.  They were encouraged to go through the scripture verses with their friend or relative just like we did in Children in Action.

Oh, that everyone in our churches would have the insight of these children.