From their earliest days, all three of our kids absolutely believed in Jesus. They grew up with Him! They prayed, they talked about Him, they assumed the Bible stories to be true. For years we used “The Bible In Pictures For Little Eyes” at dinner time, taking a Bible story each evening. Not once did we hear Larissa say, “Get real Dad!”
You know, as I ponder the lives of saints used significantly of God, the “grown-ups” that He seems to use in awesome ways have often been those of child-like faith! In fact, Charles Spurgeon once heard George Müller (who ministered to the poor orphaned children of Bristol, England) “preach.” He said it was nothing more than a simple Sunday School lesson in its format and delivery — yet Spurgeon declared it to be the greatest sermon he’d ever heard!
That’s not to say Müller was a simpleton! On the contrary: He mastered six languages — Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, French, and English. He both read and understood Dutch and three Oriental languages! Nevertheless, his entire library consisted of a Hebrew Bible, three Greek Testaments, a Greek concordance and lexicon, with a half dozen different versions of the Bible along with copies of the most readable translations in different languages. That was it!
Müller’s autobiography is quite an inspiring read for it shows how God simply honors simple faith! While I personally value education, that’s not a requirement for usefulness in God’s Kingdom-work!
When asked what the most profound thought was he’d ever entertained, a very brilliant (and universally known) theologian responded with “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!” As another “well-known” recently put it: “Success [in God’s economy] is measured not in accomplishments but in faithfulness.”
This is something we all can be, young or old.