It can be intimidating to think about teaching children about faith. What will we do? How do we know if we have what it takes to pass along the right knowledge? Pause and think about how you teach anything. Take tying your shoes for instance. Not one of us has a degree in shoe-tying techniques or has studied the history of shoelaces. But when a child needed to learn how to tie her shoes, we simply taught what we knew. We led from the overflow of our own shoe-tying experience. Leading from the overflow of God’s work in our lives is much the same.
In the book of Ezra we find three keys to finding overflow: study, obey, teach.
For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. Ezra 7:10
Having an overflow can be found in these three simple instructions.
- Study: Spend time soaking in the Scripture every week. Ask for God’s presence through His Word. Try reading without an agenda. Underline words that jump out at you. Write them on notes and tuck them in places you will see them. Pray about them.
- Obey: Follow through on what you have learned about God and how He wants you to live. Plan how you will obey what you have studied. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with knowledge and wisdom, and remind you in the moment to obey!
- Teach: Since you have prepared and studied, and as the work of the Spirit has helped you to obey, you are ready to teach! What you teach will now flow out of you more naturally because you yourself have been filled and because you are listening to the Holy Spirit.
God brings overflow into our lives every day. Our primary responsibility is to be who God has made us to be. This happens as we stay attentive to His Spirit. Then, when it’s time to teach, we can know with confidence that God has been at work in our lives all week.
