Never Too Little To Serve the Lord

Did you know you’re never too little to serve the Lord? I asked our children one day. Even me? Our 4-year-old responded looking both surprised and unsure. Yes sweetie, especially you! I reassured him.

When Jesus was looking for the most perfect example of who His Kingdom belongs to, guess who He used? Children! And more specifically little children.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14 NIV)

Wow! Me too!!! He smiled happily at his big sister feeling very much validated and rightly so. She’s only 2 years older than him but in my children’s perspective, much like dog years, she might as well be 10 years older than him.

Anyway, I went on to show them examples in the Bible, where God used little children to do very big things for Him.
We learned about Josiah who was only 8 years old when he became King of Judah. The Bible says Josiah, even though He was little and young in age, did what was right in the sight of the Lord as he led such a great Kingdom. Something many adults would be scared to do! (2 Chronicles 34:1-2)

We also talked about the young boy who gave his lunch of five loaves of bread and two fish to Jesus. Jesus took that food, multiplied it and gave it to over 5,000 people to eat! Through the kindness of that little boy who shared what he had with others, a whole multitude was fed till everyone was full and some food was even left over. God used what that little boy gave to perform a great miracle. (John.6:9)

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Finally, we spoke about Moses’ sister Miriam. (Exodus 2:4-8) She was only about 5 years old when she watched baby Moses floating on the river in the basket their Mom had made for him. When Pharaoh’s daughter found the baby, Miriam courageously and wisely offered to find a Hebrew woman (Moses’ own Mom!) to help the Princess take care of the baby. Baby Moses grew into one of the greatest prophets and leaders of the Nation of Israel because God used his sister to bravely watch over him and speak up for him.

The children were thrilled because some of the Bible characters we talked about were even younger than they are and yet God used them in such wonderful and powerful ways.

I asked how they thought God could use them too and here are a few examples we came up with:

Praying for others:
Prayer is such a powerful thing. God hears and answers all who pray to Him both young and old. And when we pray for others, the Holy Spirit is able to do great things in their lives, meeting them at their point of need. Examples of people our children love to pray for include: family, friends, neighbors, those in need, the sick, missionaries and other children all over the world.
Sharing:
The children talked about the time they shared their shoes and clothes with those in need, when they made Christmas care packages for vulnerable children and when our family made donations to a local food bank. We all agreed that sharing what we have with others is another way that God works through us.
Being a light:
Matthew 5:14-16 Calls us the light of the world. When others see our good example, they will praise our Father in heaven. What does this look like in our everyday lives I asked? The children had various ideas on what this looks like but I’ll only mention the top two: being kind to other children at the park and not being ashamed to talk to people about their savior Jesus.

It’s my hope that sharing the discussion we had in our home will spark some interest in yours as you discover the wonderful ways God can and is already using your children to do His will. That as you read Bible stories about God using children to do great things for Him, you and your children can come up with many more examples of how God can use us all, both young and old to do His works. We are never too little for God to use us, and we are definitely never too old either.

May God richly bless you and your loved ones as you yield yourselves as vessels for Him to work through.