Rays of Light

Out of the mouths of babes! Several years ago, when my youngest daughter was about three years old, she brightened the life of a stranger in the most unexpected way. She was sitting in the front of a grocery cart, dangling her legs to relieve the boredom of the long wait in line, when she suddenly chirped a friendly “Hi” to someone behind me.

As I turned to greet the person to whom she had spoken, I couldn’t help but notice his grubby clothing, and his tattoos and piercings –which were not all that common back then. Though I knew nothing of his life, he did perfectly fit the stereotypical image of a really tough biker thug. My daughter must have thought he looked like a bad boy as well, because she asked him a rather odd question –you never know what a child is going to say.

“Mister, do you smoke?”

With apparent amusement, the man answered, “No ma’am, I don’t.”

I thought it very sweet of him to call her ma’am. He certainly was a far more gentle man than his outward appearance suggested. As a parent, I felt the need to lovingly advise my daughter that it was not polite to pry. But she didn’t give me the chance. Without skipping a beat, my golden-haired child replied, “Good! I’m glad you don’t. You prob’ly won’t go to hell if you smoke, but if you do smoke, that might mean your heart isn’t right with Jesus.”

I was flabbergasted. Yes, we taught our children that smoking was bad, but who would have thought that a three-year-old would then preach the evils of smoking to a stranger in a grocery store? I felt the need to apologize on behalf of my daughter. But again, she didn’t give me the chance.

“Mister, can I sing you a song?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am, you sure can!” he responded with a very genuine smile. He wasn’t offended at all. Obviously, he was touched by the innocence of a child’s heart.

Then, loudly enough for half the store to hear, my daughter sang these words:

“Jesus loves the little children; all the children of the world…”

All eyes were now fixed on my precious child; especially his. As I looked into the face of this burly, hard-looking man, I was surprised to see tears run down his cheek. This time he spoke to me.

“If I live to be a hundred,” he said, “I will never forget this little girl.” And he probably never did.

This time of year, much of the world’s thoughts are on another little child; the baby Jesus. Though he wasn’t really born in December, Christmas carols like “O Holy Night” and “Away in a Manger” remind us that Jesus IS the Savior of all mankind.

Truly, Jesus is the Son of God and He came to this earth, born of a virgin, to dwell in human form. But that baby grew to be a man, then offered His own life as atonement for sin. Why? As my daughter so aptly sang, “Jesus loves the little children of the world!”

No matter our ages, we are all God’s children and He loves us! “Red, brown, yellow, black and white; we are precious in His sight….”

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life
(John 3:16).