One thing that I’ve struggled with here at church is encouraging students to read the bible. While going through Confirmation prep there are a lot of students that stumble through the words, not knowing the difference between New Testament and Old. As bad as it is I can’t blame the students, can’t blame the parents or even the ones that go to Catholic school, reading the bible just hasn’t been a large part of our faith formation in the past.
I was talking with a high school freshman yesterday who I have known to be reading the bible front to back and it’s amazing to me how he’s just absorbing each story, each word and each detail. He was talking about things I think we tend to skim over in such great detail and then he was using it to talk about faith and life. So I asked him, how he was doing it, how was he reading the bible for what it is and he told me it was because he read the “One Minute Bible”. I know this sounds like a plug and I am friends with the guy who arranged this daily devotional for students, but I wanted to share this with people because one of the most rewarding things in church ministry is to hear a teenager talk about the bible and how they are using it to strengthen their relationship with Christ. It’s just beautiful. So I encourage parents if your teen doesn’t have a bible, if your teen hasn’t read the bible encourage them, read with them, make it a part of their life. Check out the One Minute Bible which we sell at the student programs, it’s worth it.