“. . .and a little child will lead them”–Isaiah 11:6 (NIV)
At a recent church service, a father came forward to be baptized. While our church is growing and we have new people coming forward almost weekly to be baptized or join our congregation, this particular Sunday was special. For the man who came forward was led by an 8-year-old child, his daughter, to make a public pronouncement of his faith and accept his new identity in Christ through the celebration of baptism.
It’s not often that you see a child lead a parent to Christ. I heard sniffles around me in the congregation as teary-eyed adults were moved by the scene. I was one of them.
Searching the Internet for examples of children leading others to Christ, I came across a website with an archive of live radio broadcasts. The Christian site has a call-in radio program for listeners to ask questions concerning the Bible and their Christian faith. I was intrigued with one caller whose question concerned witnessing to parents.
The caller, a young boy, said, “You know how in Proverbs it says: Parents, raise up your children in the way of the Lord and when they’re old they shall not depart from it? Would you happen to know of any scriptures that have something to do with the opposite situation which would be children raising up parents in the way of the Lord?”
From the sound of the caller’s voice, I would say he was a child between the ages of eight and ten. I listened as the pastor on call discussed the question with the boy.
The pastor encouraged the young caller with several scriptures, including some in Isaiah as well as Matthew 21:16. Both the pastor, as well as the radio host, was intrigued because a child had never called in wanting to know about children being a witness to their parents.
As the pastor continued discussing the child’s question, he added, “God speaks through young people. Another example would be the story of two kings who were very godly as young people and they led the nations back to the Lord. And that was Joash and Josiah. One was eight-years-old when he began to reign and the other was seven, and they led the nation back to God by their example of obedience. Another example is King David who was the youngest of his family and was selected by God.
“We don’t know exactly his (David) age but he was a youth. So there are some principles there that would say you can lead. One more example is when Paul said to Timothy, ‘Let no man despise your youth,’ and Timothy, though young, was leading a church of people who were older, and Paul was training him.”
Before the youngster hung up, he said, “Thank you, because my mother is the type of person who likes to argue this stuff so I’ve been looking for three years and have had little luck.”
I don’t think this little boy will give up. Do you?