Knowledge is a response to the character of God.
When kids turn about four years old they start asking, “Why?” It’s like suddenly a switch flips and they begin to string together their questions in an attempt to understand everything around them. And this continues throughout life. Watch an eight-year-old for very long and you can become convinced that everyone is wired with a natural curiosity to discover what we don’t know and go where we haven’t been.
God designed people in such a unique way—different from the rest of creation—to pursue finding the answers to life’s hidden secrets. The very fact that we naturally pursue knowledge is proof that there is a God. It’s actually genius that God would make us in such a way that we are always discovering, wondering, exploring, innovating, improving, and solving. He wants us to pursue knowing more, because He wants us to know Him more.
The most important thing you can do for young kids is to invite them into the story about a really big God. It’s a story that will always be bigger than they can explain or imagine, but God invites them to spend a lifetime discovering who He is and how He loves them.
Jesus helps us know God better.
If you want to know who God is and how God loves, look to Jesus. When Jesus stepped foot onto the planet, God was once and for all with us. John writes this about Jesus, The Word became a human being. He made his home with us. We have seen his glory. It is the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father. And the Word was full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, NIrV) As we dig deeper into the story of Jesus, we discover more about how God desires a relationship with us and invites us to help Him spread the message of Jesus throughout the world. To do that, we need to know God through Jesus.
That’s why we think it’s important for us to help our kids and families discover more about knowledge—discovering something new so you can be better at whatever you do. We want kids to know that God is real, God made them and all things. We hope they leave this month believing that when they discover something new about God, they are learning the best way to win at life.
Our Memory Verse for January comes from Psalm 119:105.
In Psalm 119:105, we read, Your word is like a lamp that shows me the way. It is like a light that guides me. (NIrV) When we dig into God’s word, we start to know how God wants us to live. God’s words act like a lamp that shows us the next steps to take on our journey through life. God’s word points the way towards a growing relationship with Jesus.
We will spend the month of January taking a closer look at the way knowledge shows up throughout the Gospels.