The Faith of a Child

Many years ago when our son was eight years old, he got up early one morning and told us that Jesus had come to his room the night before. David questioned him about it and asked if he had said anything to him. His answer was very sobering. He said that Jesus had told him to always believe in his dad no matter what anyone told him. 

A few days later, David was fired from the church where he pastored and our world was greatly shaken. Over the last few months, we had begun to question some of the doctrines at church and David had begun to preach more in keeping with what he thought the Bible actually taught. It was not well received by the “old timers”. Needless to say, it resulted in a lot of very negative talk about David and our family. Though we were very unfamiliar with the concept of Jesus showing up in our rooms and talking to us, it was evident to us that he had indeed come to Drew and encouraged him to trust his dad.

Through the years, I have thought about that. It wasn’t the first time God had come to a small child and given him a message. You may be familiar with the story of Samuel whose mother Hannah had prayed for a child so diligently and had toldGod that she would dedicate him to the Lord to serve him all the days of his life. As a young boy, God came to Samuel in the temple where he was serving with the prophet Eli and gave him a message for Eli. The story can be found in 1Samuel 3.

Is it possible that these two young boys had one thing in common? Their minds and hearts were quiet enough to hear the voice of the Lord.

I’m so grateful to our precious father and to our Savior for the gift they gave our son that night. The gift of loving and trusting and honoring his dad no matter what he heard others say.

I believe sometimes we forget that a sanctified child of God is created when we give ourselves to Jesus no matter our age. Drew was just as capable at eightyears old as a child of God to be trusted with the message he was given. Samuel was also trusted to reveal the heart of God to Eli.

Let’s be careful not to minimize our children’s relationship with God. Remember Jesus said to His disciples, “unless you become like a child, you cannot enter the kingdom.”

In what way are we to become like children? Definitely food for thought.