Ever have to read a book or do a school report growing up about a US president? Yeah, me too. I still remember William H. Taft from about third grade. Oi.

Can I ask you something: did you refer to them as people or characters? I admit, some of our country’s leaders have acted like real characters over the years, but they were/are real people, historical figures, flesh and blood.

An actor portrays a character, a fictional role.

So just a thought as you (Christ-followers) seek to weave the truth of Jesus Christ through all that you say and do: when you sit down with your children and open the bible, remember that you are reading about real people recorded in the bible, not merely “characters.”

Rather than making statements like, “Jonah was an interesting bible character,” ask “Who should we read about tonight?”

Instead of saying, “Moses is in the Old Testament,” you can say, “Moses lived a very very {very} long time ago, and some of his life is recorded in the bible.”

And for goodness’ sake, when your precious ones ask you who Jesus is, please do not tell them “He is a bible character”; No, “He is the Son of God who lived a faultless life, died a sacrificial death to pay the price of our sins, rose again three days later, and is still alive today.”

So, do you ever catch yourself referring to real people in a fictional way?

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth (Deuteronomy 11:18-21).