Luke 18:16

LESSONS FROM CHILDREN

‘Of such is the kingdom of God.’

Luke 18:16

Christ meant His disciples to understand that there are certain attributes in children which are also marks of a true Christian. What are these attributes?

I. The lesson of faith.—First of all the children teach us the lesson of faith. It is one of the principal charms of childhood, this sweet trustfulness; its trustfulness in parents, which by and by grows into a stronger and deeper trust in God the Father. The trust of the little child! What a wonderful look there is in a little child’s face when it looks up at you for protection! It seems to drag out of you everything that is good; you feel that you want to protect the child when there is that look of trust. Faith or trustfulness is mainly a mark of childhood, and we must remember that the child’s faith is faith in its parents. They are the final court of appeal to the little child; what they say is right and true. They are moulding the child’s character for the stronger religious faith, which will grow imperceptibly, in the Great Father of all.

II. The lesson of love.—The second lesson we learn from the child is the lesson of love. A child’s love is one of the most beautiful things in the world, because it is a most generous love. You remember the definition of Christian love which St. Paul gives when he says, ‘Love thinketh no evil.’ This is very true of a little child’s love. There must be in our lives a more generous love: a readiness to judge ourselves, less readiness to judge others; larger hearts and less criticism.

III. The lesson of humility.—The third thing the children teach us is the lesson of humility. We often hear people say that the great charm of childhood is humility. It is the rule to find humility in childhood, while in manhood it is the exception and not the rule. And this lack of humility, is it not often found, and is it not a grievous fault in many a religious man?

IV. The lesson of simplicity.—And, lastly, we come to the final lesson which children teach us. What do we mean by simplicity when we take it from the realm of childhood and apply it to ourselves? It means singleness of purpose. One of the first laws of the things of the Spirit is that we must be pure-minded. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ It is only to the pure in heart, the single-minded, that God can reveal Himself. ‘If thy heart be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

—Rev. L. D. Currie.