Out Of The Mouths Of Babes Series

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES

By: C. Mason Davis

There was a baptism in church, and five-year-old Emma watched intently as the pastor poured water on the tiny infant’s head and said some important sounding words. Confused by what she saw, Emma leaned over and whispered in her father’s ear, “Daddy, why is Pastor Bob brainwashing that baby?”

After a wedding, the little ringbearer asked his father, “How many brides can the groom marry?” “One,” his father said. “Why do you ask?” Because the pastor said he could marry sixteen,” the boy said, puzzled. “How’d you come up with that?” his father asked. “Easy,” the little boy said. “All you have to do is add it up, like the pastor said: 4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer.”

A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am."

Do you remember the comedy television show hosted by Art Linkletter called, “Kids say the Darndest Things”? The premise of the show relied in the fact that children are often guilty of saying some of the most embarrassing things, but completely truthful. And who amongst us, as parents today, can identify with that truth? In a particular episode, Mr. Linkletter asked a 5-year-old boy what he wanted to be when he grew up. The little boy said, “A bus driver or a pilot.” Then Art asked him what he would say if he was flying a plane and all 4 engines stopped. The boy thought for a moment, bowed his head, and then started to say, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…”

The fact of the matter is, Kids do say the Darndest Things. But sometimes those things have validity to them. Children can often be heard quoting and reenacting things they have seen, heard or both seen and heard by their parents and others. In fact, in the Book of Ephesians 5:1-2, encourages us, like children who learn proper behavior from watching their parents; to watch what God (our Father) does and then do it ourselves. A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

On other episodes of that show, Art asked another 5-year-old boy who the boss of his family was, his mother or his father. The boy answered, “bofe of them.” Art then said, “Oh, so you’re a diplomat, huh.” And the boy answered that with: “No, I’m a Catholic Baptist.”

After that, Art asked a 6-year-old boy who he thought the most important man in the U. S. today. The boy answered, “George Washington.” Art followed with, “George Washington. That’s great. Now, is George Washington married?” The little boy answered, “Yes, sir.” Art asked if he knew what his wife’s name is and the child answered, “Miss America.”

Then Art asked an 8-year-old girl, Karen, what she thought would make the perfect husband. She answered, “Well, he’d provide a lot of money, love horses, would let you have 22 kids and doesn’t put up a fight.” Then Art asked the girl, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” This little girl responded, “A nun.”

Finally, Art asked a boy if he knew who took the first bite of the apple, Adam, or Eve. The boy responded, “Adam, and then Eve.” Then Art said that it must have made God really mad. The boy agreed and said, “He sure was. He sent Adam and Eve to hell, then transferred them to Los Angeles.”

In the book of John, chapter 6, Jesus took a little boy’s lunch of 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread and made it enough to feed 5,000, even with a little left over. What was this boy thinking? How did his behavior personally change or alter after watching and seeing our Savior, Jesus Christ, in action? I mean you can’t have a better mentor or role model than Jesus himself. What ever happen to that child? What lessons did he really learn on what may have been a summer picnic in the mountains for him? God cares about us long before we acknowledge who He is. He cares about our inner desires. And this reminds me of a pastor’s wife who was preparing pancakes for her young sons when the boys began arguing over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. “If Jesus were sitting here,” she told them, He would say, “Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.” The younger boy turned to his brother and said, “You be Jesus.”