When a boy or girl thrusts his small hand in yours, it may be smeared with chocolate ice cream, or grimy from petting a dog, and there may be a wart under the right thumb and a bandage on the little finger.
But the most important thing about his hands is that they are the hands of the future. These are the hands that someday may hold a Bible or a murder weapon. They may play the church piano or spin the gambling wheel. They may gently dress a wound or tremble wretchedly uncontrolled by an alcoholic mind.
Right now, the hand is in yours. It asks for help and guidance. It represents a full-fledged personality in miniature, to be respected as a separate individual whose day-by-day growth into Christian adulthood is your responsibility.
So, hold those hands, guide them, teach them, show them the right way unto God. Remember, it is you who holds the future in your hands.
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Deut. 6:7
Comments