Take the Time to Teach the Children

Luke 18:15-17

People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

 

Take the Time to Teach the Children

 

Last night I had the wonderful experience of having my little four-year-old granddaughter come to me and say, “Grandpa, I want to ask Jesus into my heart.”  What a blessing and privilege to kneel down with her and lead her in that prayer of salvation and trust in Jesus.

We often share with the grandkids when they come over.  We will often share the Word with them or tell them stories about the things the Lord has done in our lives and in others.  What sparked this particular moment with my granddaughter was the day before when something was said in passing about Jesus and she said that Jesus was in her heart.  Now that is how I’ve always taught all of my kids and grandkids, but I ask her if she knew how Jesus came to be in her heart and she didn’t really know and as I stopped the chores that I was doing and set down with her outside to talk, I realized she really didn’t have a grasp of who Jesus was and what God was about.  I simply began to tell about the God of all of creation and His Son Jesus.  I told her a little bit about creation, God creating man, the fall of man and the entrance of sin into our lives.  Then I told her about how God in His love, sent His only Son to take the punishment of that sin for us so that if we believed in Him we had forgiveness of our sins and Jesus would come to live in our hearts.  I told her then that when she got ready, I would help her if she wanted to pray and ask Jesus into her heart.  Apparently, that time with her had an impact because the next day when she came over for supper is when she had made that decision.

I say that to say this.  Far too many times I have been too busy with my agenda and what was important to me to take the time to really minister and meet the needs of the children and grandchildren.  When we miss these opportunities, we miss the heart of God.  The kingdom of God is found in the simple trust and faith of a child.  They can often embrace the powerful truths that adults stumble and falter over.  They live in a place of trust and reliance upon their parents to provide for them, protect them, love them and care for them.  They know that place of simple faith and trust much better than those of us that have grown up to be self-reliant and skeptical of everything.

Deuteronomy 11:19-21 tells us, “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 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. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.”  Are the Lord and the things of the Lord, the conversation of our home, our family, our children and grandchildren?  Is He the foremost topic of our lives?  We must take the time to plant often into our children and grandchildren.  We are God’s legacy to them and they must be taught that they also are responsible for instilling the things of the Lord in their children and grandchildren. The devourer is all around seeking to rob, steal and destroy that precious seed.  If our nation is to survive then we know that its foundation rests upon the family and the principles of God in our lives.  When these are lost, then so is our nation.  We can not afford to be negligent when it comes to faithfully imparting Christ to others.

My little granddaughter has a twelve-year-old sister, which I also had the privilege of praying with some year’s back.  She is at that age when her peers and the world around her are becoming increasingly more important.  Before they left, I encouraged her older sister to be faithful to read her stories, pray with her and teach her the things that had been taught to her.  We all have that responsibility to one another to help each other to know the Lord and to grow in the faith that our days may be many in the land.

Blessings,

#kent

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