The Golden Years

“When shall i start teaching my son about the Bible?” A Christian mother asked this question of her new pastor.

“How old is he?”

“Six,” she replied.

“Hurry home, woman, you have already lost five precious years,” the pastor exclaimed.

This is not a joke but a matter of the gravest importance. Too many parents assume that little children are not prepared to hear and understand spiritual truths, and in their ignorance they fritter away golden years of opportunity.

I am fully aware that some child psychologists, even leaders in Christian education, think that children should not be subjected to spiritual instruction before they are six. But I know from experience that little children are a fruitful field for just such teaching; they respond in a way that proves conclusively that these are indeed the golden years for Christian instruction.

The mind of a child does not operate in a vacuum. Even when he is only a few months old, impressions are being formed and character developed. What a tragedy to permit this formative period to pass without making an impact on him for God and his Word!

The hearts and minds of little children are amazingly receptive to outside impressions, for either good or evil. When our Lord affirmed, “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein,” he was speaking of those characteristics of a child that are worth emulating by all.

Some people deplore telling children stories of violence found in the Bible. But these usually depict heroism, divine guidance, and divine intervention, and carry with them the concept of man’s dependence on God. They thrill young minds and bring blessing to them then and on through life.

When one considers the violence in very unfunny “funnies,” on TV, and in the daily press, one is inclined to cry out against any effort to deprive children of stories about David and Goliath, Daniel in the lion’s den, and his three companions in the fiery furnace, to mention but a few.

Even more deplorable is the concerted effort on the part of some to protect children from the “gory” details of our Lord’s death on Calvary. Some parents have reprimanded Sunday-school teachers for mentioning the “blood of Christ” to their children. And yet, when such children are subjected to impressions of violence all around, why should they be denied the story of the death of the Son of God, and the cleansing and redeeming blood that flowed from Calvary?

One of the outstanding characteristics of children is their simple faith. How wonderful, then, is the opportunity to instill in their minds the truths about Christ that will form the basis for their own faith in him!

Children’s lack of sophistication is a quality I am sure the Lord loves. The Christian world is beset by a desire to be sophisticated, so much so that the simplicity of the Gospel is often lost in a maze of worldly wisdom. Not so with little children. They have implicit faith in their parents, and are willing to take the Scriptures at face value. Their hearts are a fertile soil for spiritual truths, their simplicity an example and warning to us who may value worldly wisdom too highly.

This lack of sophistication carries with it a receptiveness to the Gospel that should thrill those who witness God’s grace working in the hearts of little ones. Innocence in itself carries a warning and a challenge: woe to any who either take advantage of innocence for evil ends or ignore its potential for good.

That millions of children are born into unprepared homes is a tragic fact in each generation. Certainly to the Christian, it would seem axiomatic that the Christian home alone has in it the potentials for proper training. But that so many Christian homes fail in this regard is cause for real heart-searching on the part of those involved. Christ is the center of the Christian home, and he must become the center of child training if it is to be effective.

Even very small children will sense things they have never been told. They know whether parents are sincere in their spiritual aspirations for them or not. It is little use to speak of prayer to a child if the parents are never seen praying. Little use to speak of the importance of Bible study if the parents are never seen reading the Word. Why tell of Christ’s love and transforming power if our children do not see the effect of his presence in our lives?

But all these things can take place, and there can be fulfilled before our eyes the promise, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

It should not be forgotten that this promise speaks of the way he should go and not the way he wants to go. The truth that “foolishness is bound in the heart of a child” is evident to all who try to guide wayward little feet.

Fortunately, Christian parents are not left to carry out their task alone, nor do they lack the tools.

First, they have the privilege of praying for their children, as well as with them. God knows our weakness and our inability to train others for him. To that end he will give wisdom and guidance and the necessary grace to carry out the task. The power of prayer will never be understood this side of eternity. God hears and answers prayer, and he reaches out often to bring help and blessing to our children. This should be an unending source of comfort.

Secondly, he has given parents his Word. That so many children now grow to adulthood with no knowledge of the Christian faith is one of the tragedies of our day. Even many coming from Christian homes know little about the Bible because they have neither learned it from their parents nor read it regularly themselves.

In a very real sense the Bible is the foundation of true education. Reverential trust in God is the beginning of wisdom. A child who goes out into the world with a knowledge of and love for the Holy Scriptures has the best preparation possible.

Young Timothy was raised amid surroundings we today would call utterly primitive. But he had the best training a parent can give: “From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

The Christian parent has the same privilege to impart today.

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