A few months ago, my son came to me and said he wanted to form a youth bible study group with some of his friends from church. He said that he was learning a lot about Christianity through our church, but
said he felt he could learn even more by forming a group of friends with whom he could study.
I told him that I thought it was a great idea, and that I thought he should give it a try. Now, I am not a skeptical man by nature, but I thought it would be the sort of thing that lasted a few weeks and then died off. I figured that he and his friends would find something else to do, and that gradually the meetings would dwindle and at some point, stop all together.
I have been pleasantly surprised, however, to see that the youth bible study group is still going strong and showing no signs of letting up any time soon. As a matter of fact, that last time I checked in on one, it looked like it had actually grown.
The boys and girls in the group read a chapter from the New Testament, a Psalm, and a couple of chapters from the Old Testament. Then they sat around and discussed what they had read and the chapters they had all read on their own throughout the week.
In listening to the youth bible study group, it was amazing to me to hear some of the kids insights. In many cases, they really got it, and truly understood what they were reading.
My son and I had read and studied the bible together on a number of occasions, and it was great for me to see him discussing things with his friends in the youth bible study group the way he would with me, and even using some of the things that I had told him.
I realized that he had listened when I was talking to him, and that made me feel great. It was always very important to my wife and I that our children were raised in a Christian household and with good morals and values.
I asked him what made him decide to start up the youth bible study group, and he said that there were a number of students at his school who had done the same thing. He told me who some of the students were, and they were all kids that were doing great academically and considered leaders at the school.
When my son first came to me and asked about starting a youth bible study, I was not sure that it was going to last. It has turned out to be a great thing for him and his friends, however, and I can honestly say that there are a lot worse things he could be doing with his time.