Awana

Pack up Your Kids' Minds With Verses for Their Life's Journey

Pretend you are preparing your child for a camping trip. He will spend a week at a remote location far from home. The hike to his campsite will take an entire day. There will be no stores nearby. He needs to bring everything he needs, but there's a limit to what he can carry.

You need to make some important choices. What will the weather be like? Should you pack shorts or a jacket? Can he catch fish, pick berries, or get water from a spring, or will you need to pack all his food? A sleeping bag will take up a lot of room, but can he manage without one? What about a hair dryer? A pound of chocolate? A phone book?

You have no idea what situations he might face. Without the proper equipment, he could be in for a tough week.

 

Memory Verses: Tools for Life

This illustrates why we have kids memorize Bible verses in Awana. Don't see the connection? Think of life as a camping trip and the brain as a backpack. You never know what your kids face in life. You, and we, want them to be prepared with a mind filled with the right things.

Chances are, your children already know the lyrics to many popular songs and lines from popular movies. But do they also have the information they need when life gets tough?

God knows exactly what we need to handle life. He's given us that information in His Word, the Bible. The entire book is a valuable resource for life's challenges.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).

Salvation, Eternal Security, Christian Living

But some verses apply directly to the life of your child. Awana has chosen verses that your child can use in three specific areas:

  1. Salvation - Many of the verses in the Awana handbooks point out to clubbers that we are all sinners and need salvation. They show how we can be saved by faith in Jesus Christ because of His death and resurrection. Clubbers can use these verses to understand their own need for salvation and also to point out Christ's gift to friends and family members.
  2. Eternal Security - Once a person has trusted Christ, he is saved forever. But many people think that because they continue to sin, they must not have been saved or that they need to trust Christ again. But the Bible clearly states that salvation is forever. A child who doesn't understand this will worry about his salvation and won't be able to grow spiritually or be an effective witness for Christ. Many of the verses in the Awana books show clubbers that they belong to God eternally.
  3. Christian Living/Making Choices - Although salvation is forever, a Christian can miss out on a lot of the advantages of the Christina life if he makes poor choices. Many passages in the Bible give lists and instructions on things to avoid, but the primary emphasis is on positive choices. Verses in the Awana books will show your child how he can grow spiritually and develop a close, personal relationship with Christ.

Your child won't always have a Bible along wherever he goes, just like he won't have a supermarket nearby on the camping trip we imagined. But with the verses memorized in Awana, he will always have the important truths necessary for facing real-life trials and challenges. There's nothing wrong with knowing the words to songs and movies as long as those words aren't sinful and destructive. But how much better prepared for life will a child be with a mind filled with the Word of God?