The Bible, Home and Away

In the Christian life, we live, move, and breathe within three spheres: the home, the church, and the world. 

The home—our quiet place, or, if you have a young family like me, that loud place—is precious. It’s the place of bedtime stories, full of fantastical creatures and Narnian mysteries. It’s the place of requests for another five more minutes of wrestling before it’s time to brush teeth. It’s the place where dancing down the hallway abruptly ends after someone jumps onto that tragically placed Lego piece. In this wonderful, wild sphere of life, long days give way to short years. 

In these short years, when your child enters school at the speed of light (noting how quickly kids grow up), family discipleship, like many other high-importance things, is a gift to many of our families. This gift is also reinforced by our combined series on Ezra and Esther, which presents a fresh opportunity to renew and review our Bible habits, at home and away. 

Here are some stories from a couple of our homes: 

“Our family devotions have been a precious but variable time over the years. Largely, after dinner, we get the Bible out, plus our container of Skittles, which we call our 'Bible sweets'. They got this name because they remind us that the Bible is sweet to us. It speaks good words of life and wisdom from our good God.

Devotions have shaped our family in ways I think we are only just starting to see the fruit of. Speaking about the Bible together and responding to God’s Word in repentance and faith have normalised what can be very vulnerable and emotional topics. Our failings get to be spoken, and we get to model how our sin can be forgiven without defining who we are. Rather, we get to see Christ as the source of our value and who we are growing to be. 

Ezra and Esther remain interesting and challenging books, and while they have been harder to understand in some ways, they have been an excellent reminder of how God acts on the world stage. He chooses the leaders and authorities of all nations, and his promises to his people will not be thwarted. That has caused us to reflect on the promises God has laid out for us to rely on.” – Katherine Marriot

Beth’s family have also been encouraged: 

“We have really enjoyed getting deep into God’s word and have even been able to involve Grandma in our discussions on a Friday night.

Some weeks can be busier than others and we can struggle to fit in time to sit down as a whole family, but when we do we really enjoy the discussion and prayer time.

We all sit around the table to chat after dinner and grab out our Bibles together. The kids generally read the Scripture, aged 11 and 8, and our youngest who is 5 years old likes to listen to her kid’s Bible being read online. Prayer can look different during our devotions, whether one person prays or we all take a turn to pray.

God’s Word has shaped our family this term by seeing different perspectives across generations. Sure, we pray together and do Bible study each week, but we don’t often get a chance to discuss God’s Word and share a perspective across three generations and that has been really eye opening.” – Beth Moyse

Annika also shared about her home: 

“Time together in God’s Word looks different for our 10-, 7-, and 4-year-olds, depending on who we’re with and the time of day. Between the Ezra devotional and the myriad kids’ Bibles we have, time together seeing God’s plans for us unfolding through history is always precious. We treasure the time we spend helping our kids to understand God’s plans for their lives!” – Annika Forell

Reading these stories, one thing stood out: our homes are all different. But, despite our unique rhythms and habits, the truth remains: sharing the Bible in our homes is a wonderful gift. It’s a foundational habit for life. In whatever form it takes, let’s then, with all our hearts’ passion, enjoy the Word of God in all spheres of life, whether that be home or away.