97. THE BAD BIRDS

97. THE BAD BIRDS

THE WORD IS
THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE

97. THE BAD BIRDS

A three?year?old little man came into my office and asked me to show him some Sunday School pictures. In the spring he had accompanied his older siblings to Sunday School and listened intently to the instruction. I gave the boy a picture of Jesus' parable of the sower (Luke 8:4?15).

- What is this picture? the boy asked.

- Jesus is sowing seeds, I replied.

- What are those birds doing? the boy asked as he showed me the picture.

- They are bad birds that are eating Jesus' seeds.

A moment later I noticed that the boy had torn the picture. - Why did you tear the picture? I asked.

- I took out those bad birds.

I examined more closely what the boy had done. He had carefully torn off the bottom part of the picture where the birds were, and thrown it on the floor. In his hand he still had the upper part in which Jesus sowed the seeds, but in which no birds were seen. Taking the picture with him, the boy left my office, obviously satisfied.

The above example illustrates a child's exemplary faith. Jesus says: "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all" (Mark 10:15).

The boy had learned to trust Jesus. He wanted to hear about Him. The boy loved Jesus and wanted to drive away the birds that ate Jesus' seeds. The boy had not mechanically listened to the instruction. Jesus had an actual place in his heart.

The boy's faith manifested itself in deliberation and deeds. He took the side of the good and productive activity against the bad and destructive. The scene in the picture was beautiful but the evil deed of the birds destroyed the idyll in the mind of the boy. The boy longed for peace. He found it by doing what he did to the picture.

Children often can be teachers for us parents in matters pertaining to faith and truth. Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes God has prepared praise for Himself.

When children are taught matters pertaining to faith in the right way, they come to know Jesus as their own Savior. When a child's tender conscience troubles him, the Gospel finds a ready reception in his heart. We parents just have to speak to them of Jesus and His love for us. The Holy Ghost will then perform His miraculous work in the children, and some day we will be presented with a sample of this work, when we hear a surprising truth from the lips of a child.