Deuteronomy 6:6-96And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6‑9); 1 Samuel 1:24-2824And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child was young. 25And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. 26And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. 27For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 28Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there. (1 Samuel 1:24‑28)
There was a time when our little boy did not like to go to church, and would get up in the morning and say to his mother:
“What day is tomorrow?”
“Tuesday.”
“Next day?”
“Wednesday.”
“Next day?”
“Thursday”; and so on, till he came to the answer,
“Sunday.”
“Dear me,” he said.
I said to the mother, “We cannot have our boy grow up to hate Sunday in this way; that will never do. That is the way I used to feel when I was a boy. I used to look upon Sunday with a certain amount of dread. Very few kind words were associated with the day. I don’t know that the minister even noticed me, unless it was when I was asleep in the gallery, and he had someone wake me up. This kind of thing won’t do. We must make the Sunday the most attractive day of the week; not a day to be dreaded, but a day of pleasure.”
Well, the mother took the work up with this boy. Bless those mothers in their work with the children! Sometimes I feel as if I would rather be the mother of John Wesley or Martin Luther or John Knox than have all the glories in the world. Those mothers who are faithful with the children God has given them will not go unrewarded.
My wife went to work, and took Bible stories and put those blessed truths in a light that the boy could comprehend, and soon his feeling for the Lord’s Day was the other way.
“What day’s tomorrow?” he would ask.
“Sunday.”
“I am glad.”
If we make Bible truths interesting, and break them up in some shape so that these children can get at them, then they will begin to enjoy them.