Children need to know God

Lately I have been busy of several things. I thank God that I didn’t break down because of the high working load in the ministry. Anyway, I am still striving to work for Him by appreciating the opportunity that he has given to me. Last year, I volunteer myself to be a group teacher in a one-day children camp entitled 玩出好品格 organized by my church members. I was not in the organization, but one of the teachers couldn’t manage to turn up that day due to emergency. Eventually, I was there to replace her.

This year, I made myself available to help in the camp, but I got promoted thankfully as a story-teller this time who was supposed to bring out the gospel to the kids with my title. One of the sisters made fun of me by saying that “I have been working in this organization for five years straight, but I never got promoted!” Apparently, I shall give thanks to God for having this precious opportunity to serve Him. And certainly I know that I was having the highest responsibility among them because I was the only one that would directly preach to them on the stage. Thank God seriously, that He guided me how to prepare myself and how to bring out the gospel with my title ‘Tolerance’.

In my sharing, I introduced Jesus, the Son of God, to the children as he is the most tolerant people in the world. He possessed the highest standard of holiness and morality. He was an upright person who was the man of his word. He does what he says, he says what he does. He blessed the poor and cured the sick with his miraculous hand and love. He did a thing which is against the commandment of God. Instead of being honored, he was whipped by the cruel soldiers, treated like a criminal and eventually hung on the cross to the point of death. Throughout the process of terrible treatment he remained speechless without cursing the people who tortured him. Over here, Jesus showed the greatest tolerance level ever in human history, a man without doing a single bad deed who was being cursed like the son of evil didn’t condemn those who mistreated him but pray for them while hanging on the cross for the forgiveness of Holy Father. After I shared all these, the children showed the face of guilt for being so intolerant in the comparison with Jesus. At the last part, I shared with them that through pain and death Jesus the Son of God wants to save those who repent and believe in Him as God loves the world. I led them to make a prayer and the sharing ended.

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

Luke 23:34 “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
   

Children are sinners as well as the adults, but one thing they are different from adults is that they can reach to God very easily. No matter how naughty a boy can be, he will get silent and pray at the prayer session. This action may be considered as superstitious by the elders but to me, they are “effective” believer who truly believe the existence of the almighty God after being taught. Their faith can be greater than most of the elders’ faith because they are humble and having nothing to boast about. I choose to believe that God did bless the children who died at the early stage of their lives where they still didn’t have the ability to understand the gospel and give response to it accordingly. Because after all we are saved by grace instead of rationality, and God can really bless them by granting them a new-born heart by His grace of love regardless whether if they have the ability to make the decision to follow Christ. They may never perish in the love of God.

Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Anyway most of the elders at my church did it very well at teaching their children about the knowledge of God. I keep tracking the progress of the children and how their parents’ parenting skill. Thank God that through the fellowship in Christ I was given many lessons on parenting. There are some interesting things to share based on my observation. One of the children named Berith, about 3 years old, who just learnt how to speak was one of the remarkable examples to me. She doesn’t know the names of her parents and her own name as well. But at this stage, she is trained to know God and having the worldview of Christian. Her parents carried out a Q&A section with Berith in front of me. Below is the conversation of them.

Parents:  Who created you?

Berith answered: God.

Parents:  What else did God create?

Berith: Everything in the world.

Parents: How many God do we have?

Berith: One God.

Parents: How many persons in God?

Berith: Three.

Parents: Who are they?

Berith: Holy Father, Holy Son and Holy……. Spirit.

Parents: What is God?

Berith: God is a spirit, unlike human having a body.

They showed me how parenting plays a very important role in a family. The children of God in a Christian family have the right to know about God since they were born. They mind their parenting very much. 2 Timothy 3:15 “and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” I remember what they have shared with me “Teaching your children to call you “Father” or “Mother” shows your own self-centeredness, teaching your children to call themselves shows how much you encourage them to be self-centeredness, teaching them to know God in the very first place helps them to be God-centered.”

Another girl named Audrea of about 5 years old is another example that amazed me. In last Sunday service, I sit beside a close elder brother in Christ when worshiping our Lord. The speaker shared about death and the reason why Christians shouldn’t fear death, because death is the process that brings us to God. Instead of being afraid of death, some Christians like Paul desired to die as early as possible for his desperate to meet his almighty Lord.

Philippians 1:23 “I am pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
  

Hebrew 11:13 “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”

Afterward, I turned my face and asked my brother and said:” It is really true that Christians do not fear the curse of death, but look for the eternal life that God has in store for us through death.” What he shared with me next surprised me seriously. Below is our conversation.

He said:” Yes, my daughter told me that she wants to die.” 

Immediately I asked:” Why?”

Gently and gladly he replied:” Because she told me that she wants to see Jesus.”

I said:” Seriously? Wow how wonderful it is!”

He said:” Indeed. But it is just too frightening to most of the parents, especially non-believers.”

I can tell how intensively they emphasize in their parenting about the glory of God. It seems like they just don’t care how much their sons would honor them, but they strictly demand them to honor God at the very first place. They don’t train their sons to be very talented, but mainly God-centered as they know the most valuable thing of life is our Lord Jesus Christ.