Have you ever tried to teach or explain anything to a two year old and wondered how much of it they actually understood? Well, I think the common phrase "they know more than you give them credit for" is very true.
In Sunday School we are studying the gospel of Mark and during the week Mommy has a Bible study in the same book with the three younger children so they are getting a double dose of that gospel. During the week, Ania normally plays around in the room while Mommy does the devotional and, of course, you just assume that she does not pick up on anything.
A little over a week ago, we were at the table preparing for the Sunday School lesson when somone mentioned John the Baptist. Immediately, Ania, who was sitting at the table, raised her head and asked, "Did John the Baptist get his head cut off?"
Amazed at her observation, Mommy answered, "Yes he did."
"And they put it on a platter?" she added confidently.
"Yes, they did," Mommy agreed gravely while all of us girls exchanged glances of surprise.
"Did it get blood on the platter?" was her next inquiry, demonstrating that she had thought through a little more of the gory details then were revealed in the text.
The other night when I was putting her to bed, I started to ask her if she knew any of the stories about Jesus. She promptly answered, "He talked to the water and He talked to the wind and He talked to the waves."
"Then what happened?" I inquired.
"The waves stopped splashing; the wind stopped blowing." All the while her chubby little hands were busily illustrating the fury of the tempest and the inflections in her voice added to the wonder of the story she told.
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." The instruction gains a new meaning when you see the capacity that young minds have to understand and retain instruction, whether good or bad. No wonder Jesus's warning was so severe against those that cause a little one to stumble (Mark 9:42).
No comments:
Post a Comment