Through a Child's Eyes

This week is Vacation Bible School week here at my church. Every year we have about 400-500 children each day, and ours is one of the most popular VBS's in the community. We have music and songs, puppet shows, exciting Bible lessons, crafts, games, and refreshments. The kids love it and although it is an extremely exhausting week, it is well worth it. Number one, we get to see precious young souls come to understand the Gospel and get saved. And we get to plant seeds in the younger children and help them to grow to love Jesus and learn that it is fun to be a Christian. We get to help the older kids grow spiritually.

I'm a "master teacher". I have the privilege of teaching the Bible lesson each day, and trying to instill in my kids the importance of applying what we learn in Scripture to our personal lives. I get to see kids as that lightbulb goes off and something clicks - they suddenly understand something they didn't understand before. They grow excited about reading their Bibles and praying to God. It's an awesome responsibility for which I spend much time in prayer and preparation. I ask for God's guidance and of course, He always comes through and gives it.

The single most humbling aspect of what I do though is in the one-on-one counseling I give to kids who come forward with questions or response to the Gospel. Leading a child to the Lord is different from leading an adult. You assume the adult fully understands God's plan of salvation before they are saved, but with a child, you have to be careful not to push them into something they don't really understand or are not spiritually mature enough to do yet. So I spend enough time with the children to make sure I believe they comprehend their decision to trust Christ for their salvation. And if there is any part of the plan that is unclear to them, I encourage them to think about it some more, continue to ask questions, and when they know they are ready, to come back and talk again. I've counseled three children so far this week, and only one of them was really ready. The other two have not fully grasped what Jesus did for them yet. But they're being drawn, and they're seeking. God will harvest them when they are ready.
The one precious soul who got saved yesterday was ready. There was conviction in her eyes and in her words. She cringed as we discussed the pain of the cross and Jesus's willingness to go to Calvary voluntarily - to pay for her sins and for mine. When we prayed together, her prayer was as sweet and sincere as a child's prayer always is. "Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I'm sorry I've hurt you with my sins. Please forgive me. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. I'm ready to trust You and accept your free gift of heaven."

After she prayed, we rejoiced together. I then encouraged her to be baptized as an outward sign to the world that she'd become a Christian. I encouraged her to share her good news with her friends. She hung on every word, and was very excited as I told her we were now sisters in Christ. Before she went back to her class, she asked if she could see the baptistry. So I took her to it.

As I opened the door to the baptistry, I realized that it hadn't been used in about 2 weeks, and the water had not been drained. Looking down the steps into the water that looked slightly green in color, I thought in my mind, "Yuck. I wouldn't want to step in that water. Wish I hadn't shown her this." She peered in and down the steps, and looked at the painted mural over the baptistry. I quickly shut the door and with somewhat of a sigh, said, "Well! What do you think?" Her reply made me lose my breath momentarily. Instead of seeing the baptistry the way I had just seen it, she saw it through God's eyes.

"It looks like a holy place," she said.

Yes, Bailey. You could say that. It is a holy place. Thank you for reminding me of that.

Sometimes the teacher can be taught by the student.