Just a Few Feet From Tragedy
By Dean Honeycutt
Mitchell County
The young child barely over two, wearing just a diaper was standing with his toes on the white line of the highway. Cars pass him by. I went by startled that such a young child was standing so close to the highway and no adult was near the child. He was clearly in a dangerous place, I pulled over because I was afraid for the child. I approached the toddler and began to talk with him asking him where his mom was and where was his home. The little barefooted boy began to walk down a gravel road with no home in sight. I followed him hoping someone would show up. I was a little concerned to pick him up for fear of what would someone think of me holding their child.
I felt sorry for him, he seemed to know where he was going and also thankful that I was by his side. I remember his little feet walking on the gravel, so I picked him up and proceeded in the direction he was headed. Soon a home appeared and then a mother came from the back of the house and saw the child and said there you are. She explained to me she had left him behind the house playing and she had stepped inside for just a short time. And in that short time, the little boy had walked from his house down a gravel road to the highway where he stood just a few feet away from passing cars.
The mother appeared to be panicked as she was looking for her son. I understand how quickly children can get away. A parent can turn their back and in just a moment their child could be in danger.
Children are in danger and in just a short time they can wander far away without adult supervision. Children are in danger today in America because so many parents are failing. Failing to be responsible parents. It seems that many children are confused and have no sense of direction. Children are dependent on their parents for direction and stability, and sadly many of them are not getting what they need. But we can make a difference in the life of a child.
The Bible says children are a heritage of the Lord and a gift from God. God has given parents the responsibility of caring for and nurturing His possession. Our children are indeed on loan to us from God. They are our responsibility to care for and nurture.
Many children are in danger. Because of neglect, they have wandered off and their health and safety are at risk. They have wandered off in the sense they have no direction and are lost to stable home life. Talk to any primary school teacher and they will tell you many children are neglected at home.
How can the church help children? We must help dad and mom be the parents God wants them to be. If mom and dad have a personal maturing relationship with Jesus they will be the caring parents God intends them to be. They will see their children as God sees them as precious and loved.
Churches can help mentor young parents and provide an atmosphere at church that cherishes the development of children. We can also reach out to our community with love and support. Some parents need role models and godly parents in a church who can provide that type of example. The church can also encourage foster parenting and adoption. During ministry times when children are under our care, the church can pour into them the Love of Christ.
I am confident that God never fails and a child who may be struggling now with a negligent parent will become a loving parent because of the love of a Sunday School teacher and the Bible stories they learned as a child. The Bible says God’s word will not return void. And every effort we make to nurture and love a child is time well spent.
Children learn best and have better physical and mental health when dad and mom are acting as responsible parents. Children suffer when dad and mom are reckless with their decisions and are selfish with their lives. It is a shame for God to bless a mom and dad with a child and for those parents to become careless and unconcerned about a precious child.
Jesus said suffer the little children to come unto me. Though a child may be forgotten by dad or mom they are not forgotten by God. Children need our help as they are in a dangerous place. I realize we can not rescue every child but we can sure try to help those God has placed in our life.
Jesus Loves the little children,
Pastor Dean Honeycutt
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Pastor Dean Honeycutt shepherds Snow Hill Baptist Church in Bakersville, NC. He may be reached at 828-385-0213, snowhillbaptist@gmail.com, or visit their website at www.snowhillbaptist.com.
You can read more good Christian news from Dean HERE.
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