Strengthening our Children’s Faith

Last week our church held the annual Vacation Bible School (VBS) for the local kids in the community.  Generally after the conclusion of the VBS, the next service includes the children at the front of the church performing the songs they learned.  While sometimes these are met with humor and varied levels of singing ability, this is important as children need to know they are a part of the church service and not just relegated to the kids church to be picked up later.

I’ve sat through these sessions many years.  Yet, this morning I saw things differently.  On the altar stood 20+ kids aged 4 to 9 (as my best guess).  As the lady leading them asked, “Are you ready?” in her best enthusiastic tone, some kids yelled “YES!”  One boy about the age of seven said “No” just loud enough to be noticed.  As the singing began he was involved with it like many of them.  It was apparent that his initial reluctance came from nervousness and he needed to verbalize it in some way.

As the singing began, I noticed the different children.  Some came from families of financial means; others were obviously poorer   A few looked pretty homely.  Throughout the group were children of many different races and cultures.  Standing there before me was a representation of our society.  Some participated because that had to, some didn’t participate because they were nervous or perhaps didn’t want to.  Some participated because they wanted to.

Those who didn’t participate endured the moments they had to stand up front and pretended knowing the words.  One boy just walked around the front with his finger in his mouth.  This pretty much emulates our society.  We have people that are are nervous and unsure of themselves and do what they need to do to get by. Others just fake it and some in society walk around like the kid with his finger in his mouth, adding nothing.

What really caught my attention were those children that participated because THEY WANTED TO.  Most tried to remember the words and motions that went with each song.  Some did better than others, but that’s okay.  They were willing to be participants and seemed to get the meaning of why they were up there.  While some will think that the VBS sing-a-long is just to prove to parents that their kids learned some songs, the important point is that children learn who GOD is, our place on this earth and why He sent His Son to die in our places.

Of the bunch, two children really impacted me.  There was a little black girl about four-years old and a white girl about six years of age.  These two sang every word like it was a part of them.  Every move was learned and completed with a reverence for GOD.  When they sang, “I will sing of the Lord Forever”, they meant it.  By the last song when they sung, “Ancient Words” by Michael W. Smith (A difficult song for a 4 & 6 year old by the way), I found myself moved and wiping my eyes.  Standing before me were two small children showing reverence to GOD.

My mind was immediately drawn to the memory of some other children I know.  Their parents don’t take them to church and do little to build the core foundational values of Christianity in their lives.  Why?  Recently I was told, “XXX works six days a week and is tired on Sunday.”  Ok…

• Who gave you those six days to live, breathe and earn an income?
• Given that unemployment is rampant in this country, why is it that taking time to thank the GOD that blesses is such a burden?
• What does OUR comfort have to do with the state of our children’s soul?
• GOD hears the prayers of those that know Him.  Do we want our children blessed or not? (GOD does hear the prayer of salvation from the unsaved)

We ask GOD for help when we’re in a bind and don’t acknowledge him when things are going well. We say we need GOD to turn our country around yet we fail our children by removing opportunities for their spiritual faith building.  We are in a time when we can no longer fool around.  We don’t go to church or read the bible because we might look “Too Spiritual”.  Who are we afraid of? Why does stepping up to the plate and being a man or woman leader, building our children’s knowledge of GOD scare us?

If we love our children, we should do all that we can amidst a world of hurtful people to strengthen them. We should at a minimum be like the kids who walked to the front of the church, sang and gave it their best shot.  It’s the road to spiritual strengthening and blessing that our children should have as a cover in perilous times.

Michael W. Smith – Ancient Words Powered by abmp3 search engine