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Children Are Sharp We often say, "Out of the mouth of babes" when hearing children say something profound. Let me tell of a conversation I had the pleasure to hear a while back. It involved two people, a child and a mother. The setting is important as they had been to "church" a little while earlier. They were sitting at a fast food restaurant, the one with the golden arches. Child, "Look Mommy the tower of Babel." Mother, "What?" Child, "The Tower of Babel." As he looked across the street at a building with a tall tower with stained glass. Mother, "The Tower of Babel. I don't think so." Child, "Yep, that's the Tower of Babel." Mother, "Well, maybe you're right." I could not help but think that the child was more right than he knew. Recently, I got to thinking about that conversation and what it tells me about young children (and he was young). Children really do learn in their Bible Classes. Sometimes teachers may wonder, "Why bother?" when dealing with young children. Their attention span is short. I know the most challenging classes we have here are the young people's classes. However, this young child had obviously heard about the Tower of Babel and remembered it. Teachers, you are planting seeds that will grow for a long time. Do not get discouraged when you think you are not getting across the lesson. It will surprise you what they will remember. Parent do not quit reading the Bible to your children. Talk to them about their lessons and keep on planting the seed. The same goes for grandparents. Often our limitations for the young people's classes are the ones we place on them as adults. They are capable of learning a lot more than we often think. Hannah promised to dedicate her child to Lord. We do not know the exact age of Samuel when Hannah gave him to Eli the prophet but we do know he was a child. "Then the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh" (1 Samuel 1.23b-24a). Do not short change the intelligence of our children. They can learn about God, Jesus, and the Books of the Bible at a young age. They can make the application of what they have learned. I am not saying that they understand everything they are taught at an early age, for there is room for growth, but they often understand what is being taught. In fact, their application may at times make us uncomfortable because they do not know to be politically correct. They often think something is true because the Bible says it is true. As adults we may try to side step the application but they won't. You teach a child that it is wrong to lie and they will believe it is wrong to lie! You teach a child to believe in God and they will believe in God! But the reverse is also true. If you teach a child to lie, they will lie, and if you teach a child to reject God, they will reject Him. I realize there is a point in their development that a young person starts thinking more for themselves and will decide what they believe and reject but in those first years they will accept what they are taught. Does the "Tower of Babel" exist today? We have thousands of denominations, thousands of different religions in the world and they are all speaking a different language. No wonder we have such religious division and confusion. We just need to learn as this young child and stay away from the Tower of Babel. -- Dennis Tucker |