After taking his “learn to know the Bible” class at church, our 9-year-old son Sam was eager to start reading.

We discussed a few potential starting points in his new Bible.  Old Testament, a little dark.  Revelation, too confusing and super dark.  How about the Gospels?  Perfect.  How about Luke?  It even has a sequel, Acts.  Sold.  That night, Sam and I agreed to start reading the Gospel of Luke together.

Funny how you tend to forget details in books and upon a second read they smack you in the face.  First Chapter, the angel comes to Zechariah, the man who was going to be John the Baptist’s dad, and says, “Hey, you are gonna have a baby!” (I am summarizing here.)  Zechariah is all sorts of shocked and responds, “Wait a second, that’s not possible.  You see my wife and I are really old and we can’t have any kids.”  Then the angel gets all upset (what?) and says, “Since you didn’t believe me right away, you are going to be mute until the baby is born!”

Well, no need to finish that chapter.  Let’s take a break and debrief in the morning.  Good night, sleep tight.  Hey and by the way, if you happen to see an angel in your dreams, it’s best to take their word for it.  Whatever it is.  No questions asked.

[Okay, time for a disclaimer.  Long time readers of my blog (all six or seven of you) know that I was just being silly here.  The message Jesus provides in the Gospels of love and bravery to speak toward injustice is essential for our society moving forward.  I cannot wait to move by this initial speed bump and share that message in depth with Sam.  To share such words of faith directly with a child is a precious opportunity not to be missed.  To help the child better understand how to use that message toward making the world a better place is priceless.  Amen.]