Beyond the Storybook: Making God’s Word Part of Everyday Life

This article is adapted by Dr. Kathryn Butler's The Storyteller's Bible: A Bible Storybook Celebrating the Greatest Storyteller of All (Nashville, B&H Kids), 2025.

You've just closed the cover of that beautifully illustrated Bible storybook, and the kid in your life scrambles off your lap and scurries toward new adventures. With a vague sense of displacement, you glance down at the abandoned book. Now what? you wonder. What do I do after “The End”?   

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 depicts an approach to discipleship unbounded by church walls and Sunday school classrooms. Rather than relegating Bible study to Sundays, we’re called to infuse God's Word into every moment of our children's days.

Such verses guide us to continue the conversations from Bible storybooks beyond the classroom or reading nook, into our kids’ moments as they wait for the school bus, and get ready for bed, and stew over multiplication tables. When we apply God’s Word to every facet of life, our children develop eyes to see and ears to hear. 

So how do we weave the greatest story into kids’ daily lives? The following suggestions will help you incorporate the imagery and lessons of Bible stories into the fabric of children’s days.  

Continue to dialogue.  

Ask kids to reflect upon the Bible stories they’ve heard and read and ask questions to elicit their thoughts and test their comprehension. Even better, hearken back to the stories during memorable moments in their lives. When fears stir them to wakefulness, remind them that the same God who parted the Red Sea to rescue his people also holds them in the palm of his hand (Isa. 41:10). When someone hurts them, remind them that Jesus, too, suffered persecution, and yet forgave his persecutors (Luke 23:34). When a rainbow lights up the sky, remind them that God sealed his promise to Noah with the very same ribbons of color (Gen. 9:16).  

Recognize that God’s Word is relevant for kids today.  

The presumption that children won’t understand Scripture can tempt us to delay weighty discussions and Bible study until they’re older, but the truth is that the Bible is relevant for kids now. Even when their tender minds aren’t ready for lengthy expositions of doctrine, children can understand the gospel. Kids face real struggles and hard decisions at school, on the playground, and during interactions with peers. They lie awake at night haunted by fears that sometimes adopt fanciful overtones, but which often include a hefty dollop of reality. Every time they draw on the walls, or hit a sibling, or lie about a stolen lollipop, they grasp sin and their need forgiveness. As they grow in a sin-stricken world, kids need the truth that they are loved, redeemed, and held, no matter what calamity life brings. They need the guiding light of God’s Word, even when they’re too young to read the words themselves. 

Give kids active roles in Bible study. 

Incorporate Bible study into your routine with the young people in your life – and engage them as active participants. Children learn by doing, rather than passively listening. Have kids look up relevant Bible passages during your study time. Ask them questions. Challenge them to think and to apply the truths of passages to scenarios they’ve seen in modern life. Act out scenes to help the content stick.  

“Graduate” kids to the real text.  

Kids thrive on repetition. Once they’ve read a cherished Bible story over and over, then read the corresponding chapters in the Bible. Bible storybooks offer excellent scaffolding for kids to comprehend and wrap their minds around the real thing. Furthermore, this transition emphasizes to kids that Bible stories are true stories, rather than myths. 

Retell the story.  

Encourage listeners to share the Bible stories they hear with others. Model this for your kids! Talk about God’s work through Christ regularly and often. When you engage with others, share your faith – and invite the kids in your life along when you do. Prompt kids to ask themselves, “Who can I share this story with today?” Encourage them to pray about friends and loved ones who need God’s Word. Peter declared he could not but speak about what he’d seen and heard (Acts 4:20); show it’s okay to do the same. 

Keep the gospel central. 

Too often, Bible storybooks treat Scripture as a rulebook, or as a series of disjointed stories without cohesive meaning. Such an approach couldn’t be farther from the truth. God is a storyteller, and throughout Scripture he offers us the most the beautiful story of all – how he so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son for us (John 3:16). When discussing stories, try to connect them to the overall narrative arc of the Bible, emphasizing the reality of sin, and the tremendous good news of our salvation in Christ.

Don’t let a storybook replace the real thing.  

Most importantly, don’t use Bible storybooks as a replacement for Scripture, but rather as a supplement to it. As mentioned above, these books offer kids an excellent framework, but they can’t supplant God’s inspired Word, which is “living and active,” (Heb. 4:12) “breathed out by God and profitable for teaching” (2 Tim. 3:16). Oftentimes we presume biblical language will confuse or overwhelm young minds, but don’t underestimate their ability to grasp life-giving truths. Delight in that storybook with them. Talk about God’s goodness, his greatness, his majesty, mercy, and faithfulness. Then, dive into passages in the Bible that underscore these very ideas. Wonder at his artistry. Delight in his compassion. Journey alongside your kids into the very best story – the true story – the story of the hero who laid down his life for us and is making all things new.