From the Mouths of Infants

At the ages of 7 to 12 months, some people might say that these babies are too young to understand much, but I am beginning to wonder how true that is. If researchers and scientists are beginning to link things such as individual habits and behaviors, personality, and even chronic illness in adults back to the early developmental stages of people when they were infants, then I wonder if they are onto something. Maybe they understand more than we realize, and maybe we should start as early as possible in teaching them what really matters. 

That's what I have found to be true at Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) International, where I am serving as a new children's leader for a class of 7-12 month old infants. Even though they cannot walk or even talk, we spend time telling them Bibles stories, singing them hymns, and teaching them spiritual truths on their level. 

This week, we passed around small Bibles to each baby and let them touch them and hold them as we told the story of Jesus walking on the water. "This is the Bible. It is God's true Word!" we say. "Ba-ble. Ba-ble," one little baby repeated us, and we heartily praised him. What kind of developmental and spiritual impact will this have on this baby boy, who is growing up familiar with the Bible - touching it, holding it, even saying it as one of his first words?

Each Bible story has a main truth that we emphasize for the babies. This week, we said over and over again, "The Lord Jesus takes care of those who trust in Him."

Isn't that the heart of the message of the story of Jesus walking on the water? The Lord Jesus takes care of those who trust in Him. 

Sometimes I enjoy finding deep theological truths buried in the words of Scripture. Sometimes I love discovering new facts and learning new lessons from old passages that I have read before. But sometimes, I love stripping away everything I have already heard and focusing on the main truth from the perspective of a child. 

Jesus takes care of those who trust in Him. 

If we truly believed this deep down in the bottom of our hearts, I have a feeling that many of the difficult questions we have about life would be put into perspective. We might even find the answers we are looking for. Perhaps that is why Jesus told us to have the faith of a child. What a beautiful and perfect truth for any broken, hurting, hungry, restless heart today: Jesus takes care of those who trust in Him.