A little child shall lead them

Mommy,” asked a little girl about four years of age, “why don’t we go to church like my little friends do that I play with?” Taken somewhat by surprise, the mother, having never talked about God with her little child, said, “Well, I suppose it is because we don’t believe in God.” The little girl thought for a moment and asked, “Mommy, does God know that we don’t believe in Him?”

It isn’t difficult to see the fingerprints of the Almighty. No matter where you look – history, anthropology, sociology or religion – you see religious expression. I, for one, though, think that perhaps as many of those fingerprints of the Divine are found in the nursery as in the cosmos. A little child often does more to turn the hearts of men and women to God than perhaps all those who were led there by philosophy or even the logical proofs of God as outlined by Anselm and Aquinas. Why? There’s something awesome about the gift of life, about the imprint of heaven in the simplicity and unaffected innocence of a child.

Dr. Hugh Ross, a scientist and apologist who is a Christian, sees human curiosity as one of the evidences of God’s existence. Mothers, of course, know all about this.

No wonder David, an amateur astronomer, wrote, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4). David’s curiosity brought him to God.

A final thought: God promised that your curiosity, your desire to know God, would be met. He promised, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Used with permission from Guidelines International Ministries. To learn more about Guidelines and the ministry, send an e-mail to [email protected]. You may also visit www.guidelines.org.