Daily
Devotional

As children, we loved having Grandma Ida come to visit. She was a midwife and knew everyone for miles around. She would tell us about her wonderful experiences, describe answers to prayer, and talk to us about God. Because I was only four years old, I did not understand everything she said, but I loved her soft voice and how she made the stories come alive. Another thing I remember about Grandma is that she prayed, and I know that she prayed for all of us. When she would visit, we would all gather around the table and say the Lord’s Prayer together.  

Older saints, and especially grandparents, can have a major influence on children. Grandma’s cookies or cakes can represent Jesus as clearly to them as a good sermon does to an adult. Grandpa’s loving touch or understanding ear can lead a young person to prayer more effectively than any stern lecture. Grandparents have the compassion born of experience to provide a safe sounding board for the ideas and plans that young people need to share. Those young people may never follow the roads they talk about, but they do need to talk about them.

Our focus verse tells us that Timothy had a mother who learned the things of God from her own mother. Paul calls their witness “unfeigned faith.” That is real, working faith. Timothy’s grandmother found that treasure and passed it on to her daughter. They both trusted in the God of Heaven, and passed it on to Timothy as well. Their example was before Timothy’s eyes daily.

To share Christ with a child is a high calling in anyone’s life. When one’s faith has stood the test of time, children can see it. They trust those prayers, and the God of their parents and grandparents. Maybe you have a child looking up to you today. Can that little one see Jesus in you?