Why is the text in Taste & See Books just scripture? Isn’t that too difficult for children to understand?

Our answer to this really can be summarized by, yet again, quoting scripture:

From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:15-17

But to expand on that and share our thinking:

This doesn’t say “from high school” or “from kindergarten.” It says “from infancy.” As any parent of little ones can tell you, children are like sponges. They soak up everything they are exposed to even from before birth. Parents teach their children how to sing the itsy bitty spider. Parents teach their children to count to ten. There is no reason why children cannot learn scripture; no-one is too young for God’s word.

At the beginning of this letter to Timothy, Paul says this, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced is in you as well” (2 Timothy 1:5). When we put these two verses together, it seems fair to infer that Timothy’s grandmother and mother taught him the scriptures from a very early age.

Parents, what is more important for us to do than to help our children see their need for salvation? We have an enormous influence over our children, particularly in the very early years. It is foolish for us to miss this special opportunity to share the gospel with them daily.

Eternity hangs in the balance for our children. Sunday School can’t save a child. Christian parents cannot absolve their children of sin. The most important decision our children will ever make is the decision to follow Christ. To accept His free gift of salvation. They must make a personal choice to be “wise for salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus.”

God’s word is sufficient. It is inspired. It is perfect. Yes, children will have questions about what things in scripture mean (as do parents!), but that doesn’t mean God’s word is not sufficient for our children. It doesn’t mean they need a watered down gospel simply because they don’t yet understand big words.

We use several children’s Bible resources in our own home. We don’t believe there is anything wrong with using those resources, but it is wrong to use them in place of scripture. They are not the inspired Word of God. It took a while, but we eventually realized we were using these resources in the place of God-breathed scripture. This was easy to fall into because children’s resources have illustrations that easily capture their attention (or they were just shorter).

It is the job of parents to train up their children in the way they should go. To teach, to correct, to train our children in righteousness. We have no righteousness on our own. We must go back to the source of truth to fulfill this calling.

If we don’t plant our children in scripture, we aren’t raising children in the way they should go. If we don’t teach our children that the authority of right and wrong is God’s Word, we are not teaching them the way that leads to life, but rather just a set of moral laws with nothing to ground them in. Weak roots will not bear fruit in the years to come.

It is our hope and prayer that the Taste & See series will be a bite-sized straight-from-the-tap resource that helps parents (like you) raise a generation of children who know scripture from infancy. A generation that is wise for salvation. And a generation that will be fully equipped for every good work.

You don’t need Taste & See books to train your children, but you do need to read and teach them scripture.