Do Not Say They are Too Young to Understand
"Do not say, they are too young to understand and entertain them. You little know what impressions [your words] may make. Not only the soul of the boy, but many souls may have cause to bless God, for your zeal and diligence, yea, for one such seasonable word. You have a great advantage above others to do them good; you have them before they are grown to maturity, and they will hear you when they will not hear another."
- Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, I.I.I
I do not have many memories of my early years as a young, young child. What memories I do hold, though, are there because they so deeply impressed me.
One such memory comes from when I must have been five years old—perhaps even four—at a summer vacation Bible school. We were sitting in the chapel during a service. I remember sitting right next to one of the high school leaders; Adam was his name (he was one of the ones I most liked). I even remember where we were sitting, and that I was on his right side.
I turned to him and started to say something, but his reaction caught my five-year-old self off-guard. The warm face that I had gotten accustomed to that summer was gone, and all I was met with was a stern look and two words every child dreads to hear:
"Be quiet."
He immediately turned his attention back to the front. I was shocked and somewhat confused. Had I done something wrong?
I would not bet that Adam remembers that moment, nor that even he remembers me. But if I ever got the chance to meet him again, I would sincerely thank him. As I sat there in slight shock, looking at his face so concentrated toward the preacher, it struck me then that there was something serious about what we were in that chapel room for. There is a time for fun and games, but there is also a time for sobriety and seriousness. Even a five-year-old can grasp that.
I followed suit and turned my attention toward the preacher. My mouth remained shut for the rest of that sermon.
A decade and a half later, I would be sitting in my room, listening to sermons from Reformed pastors on the holiness of God and the necessity of reverent worship. With technical exposition and homiletical skill did they communicate their point, and my soul gladly received it. Yet I could not help but recall the past, when I had been so impressed with the same message. Certainly it came through a less eloquent way, but it was two timely words that my young soul desperately needed to hear at that time.
We ought not underestimate the impact that our words and deeds can have upon the young children. Just as I experienced it myself, a timely and fitting word can leave a lasting impression in ways that we could not imagine. Let us not be discouraged in the seeming carelessness of children, for we were once children like they and can sympathize with their carefreeness. But let us not be mistaken—though they be carefree, they are thinking upon the same questions of life that we all do. And they are watching us. We can either crumble under this pressure, or we can heed the challenge and guide them well with the Lord's help.