S2 E8 - Out of the Mouth of Babes

This morning was full of some wonderful teaching moments, and all of them came from children. The first was when my daughter brought the Bible to my wife, asking questions about Jesus and wanting her mommy to teach her. She concluded for Jesus to do what he did, he must be her best friend. The second was seeing a video of a friend's 5 year old son opening up the Bible and "preaching" to everyone, it was precious. Well...there is something special about the praise that comes from the mouth of babes. Even in the days of Jesus, those that should have praised him did not, but the children still shouted "Hosanna!" Jesus tells us to be more like children, and part of that is learning to praise. 

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Transcript

Hey everybody, and welcome back to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! I’m your host BJ Sipe – I’m a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In this podcast we take everyday, ordinary events and explore how they can teach us extraordinary, eternal truths. I’m so glad that you joined me for this episode. Now, let’s open up our minds, our hearts, and our Bible’s together. 

This morning was one of those extraordinarily touching moments for me as a parent. I love our general morning routine as a family. After the kids wake up, we mosey on into the kitchen and Kylie gets breakfast going for the two of them and we put the coffee on for the two of us. As the kids have breakfast, Kylie and I will talk about our days and have some time together in the mornings over a cup of coffee on the couch. Well, our schedule was a little bit off this morning since Ava had a follow-up appointment after her recent surgery at 9 am, so Dane and I had some father/son time until Kylie & Ava got back home. After they got back, Kylie and I still took a few minutes to sit on the couch together and have a cup of coffee before I returned to work back in the bedroom. As we were sitting there, Ava came up with her kids Bible in hand and asked if mommy would read it to her. Kylie started working through some of the stories, until they got to the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. Now, we have talked with Ava many times about the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, but it seems that every time we open up the Bible she is even more curious and asks even more questions. So there I sat, with my heart swelling with pride, listening to Ava ask question after question to her mom while she taught our oldest more about Jesus. “Mommy, what happened to Jesus?” Ava asked looking at the picture in the book of him hanging on the cross. “Well, some people were jealous of Jesus, sweetie. And because they were jealous of him, they became very mean and they killed Jesus.” “That’s not very nice, mommy.” “No, it was not nice at all. But it was all a part of God’s plan. Jesus died so that we would one day all be able to live with him in heaven,” Kylie replied. “Aww that’s sweet. Mommy, Jesus is my best friend,” Ava said. Kylie and I looked at each other and smiled, I looked at Ava and said, “Yes, he is honey. He sure is.” I sat there just taking in the moment. It was so special to sit there and watch my daughter ask questions about the Lord, and to listen to my wife teach our daughter about the love of Jesus. I’m so grateful for the faith of my wife, and I’m so grateful for the faith she continues to instill in our children. A few minutes went by and I had finished my coffee, so I started heading back to the room to get some work done. As I did, I received a notification that my friend Johnny Trokey had posted a new video on his social media platform. When I went to see what he had posted, I was excited to see that he was having a proud Dad moment as well this morning. It was a video of his 5 year old son who wanted to “preach to all the people on Instagram.” And so there he sat, Bible open, reciting from memory the greatest commandment followed by the qualities of love from 1 Corinthians 13. I’ll just let you listen to it. (Audio available on the podcast) How precious was that? But most importantly, how powerful was that? It is obvious that Johnny & Emily are doing a tremendous job raising him and teaching him the Word. When God is praised, it is always something to behold, but there is just something special about that praise coming from the mouth of a child. 

Psalm 8:1-2 says the following, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.” Truly, how majestic is the name of the Lord! But notice what the Psalmist David says: the strength of the Lord is established over his enemies by the praise from the mouth of babes. When the world stands in unbelief and speaks their blasphemies against the Lord, the testimony of children stands sure. In fact, this very passage is cited by Jesus when the chief priests and scribes spoke out against Jesus. Let’s consider the account given to us in Matthew 21:14-16, “The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that he did and the children shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant and said to him, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” Jesus replied, “Yes, have you never read: You have prepared praise from the mouths of infants and nursing babies?” The leaders of the people, the chief priests and the scribes, who were supposed to be the experts in the law and teachers of the Scripture, were blind to the witness it bore concerning Jesus. They, above everyone else, should have been able to understand who Jesus truly was – and yet because of their jealousy they remained ignorant. And yet, what they were not able to see for themselves was not lost even upon the children that lived in Jerusalem. When they saw the great and powerful signs of Jesus in the Temple, from the purity in their hearts they could only do one thing, and that was to praise and shout glory to Jesus. There is a lot that we can learn from children, isn’t there? It should not be lost upon us as we discuss this that Jesus said in his ministry, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14) Jesus could not be more clear: if we want to be members of the kingdom of God, we must become more like children in our own lives. What exactly does that mean? I think there are a lot of things that we can take away from this statement from Jesus. We must learn to become pure in heart like a child. We must learn to be innocent like a child. We must learn to trust in the Lord and have the faith of a child. But, not to be overlooked, I believe what Jesus is telling us is that we must learn to praise him like a child. For out of the mouth of babes, the strength of the Lord is established. Lord, help us to learn from our children, and from a pure heart open our mouths and praise your name when the world does not. 

Thank you for tuning in to today’s episode, and I would invite you back Tuesdays-Fridays for a brand-new episode each day. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for occasional announcements and special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, please if you’re able be sure to share it with someone else that you think could benefit from it as well. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.