One Sunday morning a while back, several visitors came to worship with us. As a result there were more babies and very young children than usual in attendance that day. I must admit that I never saw some of them. I sit fairly close to the front of the auditorium, and usually by the time I reach the foyer many of our visitors are gone.
Yet I didn't have to see them to know they were in our midst that day. I could hear them. It is totally natural that little children
speak out from time to time - or cry -- or laugh. Babies just make noises; that is part of being a baby. Teaching young children how to behave during worship takes time. When that particular service was over, I turned to the lady who sits beside me and said, "The church building was full of the future this morning, wasn't it?" She smiled and said, "Well that is a unique way of putting it."
That is exactly how I felt, though. I was happy to know that so many parents brought their children to worship. The more often children are brought to the assemblies of the church from the very beginning, the more often these children grow up loving God. And isn't that wonderful?!! It is so important to train our children in the way of the Lord. If they grow up understanding how important worship is to us; then worship will become important to them.
As parents, we must remember that God is the giver of life. He is the one who has made us. As our creator, He is also our Heavenly Father -- He is our perfect parent. Therefore it shouldn't be too difficult for us to understand that children are a gift from God given to us to love and care for. But we should also understand that as the Giver of Life - as the Heavenly Father - these precious babies He puts in our life are not really ours. That is because we are all His. Does that make sense?
What I am trying to say is that if you are a parent, then your children are a gift from your Heavenly Father. But He is also your child's Heavenly Father because all children- all life -- belongs to Him. Once we understand that the precious ones we care about so much are really the Father's, we also begin to understand how important it is to teach those little ones about Him.
Many scriptures tell us to teach our little ones the way of the Lord. We are to talk about God, teach about God, sing about God and pray to God -- all in the presence of our children. It is necessary that we don't just "talk the talk." We must also "walk the walk." I keep going back to this verse, but in John 14:15 Jesus says "If you love me, keep my commandments." Well, that means all of His commandments. One of those commandments is to teach our children about God and Christ. We are also to teach them that His commandments are found in the Bible which was given to us by the Holy Spirit.
Do you remember Hannah? She couldn't have children. She wanted a child so badly that when she prayed she made a promise to give her child back to God. What a strong woman Hannah was to have been able to keep her promise! She did something that very few of us could bring ourselves to do. Aren't we glad we don't have to make a promise like that? Well, we may not be required to take our child to live with Samuel; but we are required to teach that child to live for God!
All that being said, many parents do a wonderful job of this. I love seeing little ones come into the church building and run to the door of their classroom. They are so happy and excited to be there! Can you imagine how much joy that brings to God is when He sees that?
The love a child has for class goes back to the parents. They are the ones who have "talked up" Bible class time to their children. The parents are the ones who read Bible stories to the kids at home. It is Mom and Dad who take the child's picture or workbook page home and proudly display it on the bulletin board or refrigerator door. A young child learns to love being in class because their parents have encouraged them every step of the way.
It gives me great joy to watch a child's excitement as they go into the classroom. I love teaching my 2's and 3's. The children become very precious to me. It is so much fun to watch them learn and grow through the years. I know I have said it before, but they really do teach me so much more than I ever could teach them.
For the past several weeks, the little girl in my class has been so excited to be there. She was promoted from Cradle Roll class just a few months ago, so she loves the idea of being a "big girl." She is usually very cheerful. She also loves to sing and do the motions to the songs. Her enthusiasm is contagious! She helps me remember how wonderful it is to have the opportunity to learn from God's word.
Last week, she also reminded of the importance of encouragement. After the Bible story, we worked on learning the names of the first 12 apostles. I frequently use flip charts as a teaching aid and I have one with "Jesus' special helpers" on it. Each page is a colored drawing of one apostle with his name under it.
I went through the chart once with her and then she wanted to do it on her own. I let her hold the chart, flipping the pages from one picture to another and helped her with the names. Then she gave it back to me, and I went through it one more time. When I got to the end, she looked up with a big smile on her face and said , "You did it!"
When she congratulated me like that, I could not help but smile. I could almost hear her mother's voice telling her "you did it!" over some accomplishment she had achieved. Children mirror what they see and hear. She was cheering me on, because she had some cheerleaders of her own. How else would she know to do that?
I am so thankful for parents who bring their children to Bible class and who encourage their children to learn! I am thankful for parents who are "cheerleaders" for the their children -- who instill in them the joy of learning God's Word. How wonderful it is to have an auditorium "full of the future" of the church!!
As a congregation, we should encourage and help these parents. We should support them in their faithfulness. We should extend our love and understanding to them and to the children. In doing so, we reinforce what the parents are trying to teach their little ones. We can help teach them that being with an assembly of the Lord's body is a wonderful, warm and loving place to be!
Remember the words of our Savior in Matthew 18:5 --
"Whoever receives one such child in my name, receives me." (ESV)
Christ above all things,
Robin
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