Raising Chickens to Adore God

I wanted to raise a flock of laying hens, but before I ordered my chicks, I needed to read up on the subject. A friend in the poultry business recommended a couple books, and as I scrolled through the county library’s online catalog, I came across the above title. “What on earth?” I asked myself. The idea of raising chickens to the glory of God, by managing the flock well, I could understand. But teaching a chicken to adore God? I had to take a closer look at this. That’s when I realized that I had left the alphabetized list of books on raising chickens and moved into the books on raising children.

Much has been made, and should be made, of our responsibility, described in Deuteronomy 6, to teach our children diligently as we sit in our homes and walk by the way and lie down and rise up. We are the ones who know and understand our children best; they learn from us whenever they are with us.

We stand at the window watching a summer storm and marvel with our children at a God big enough to command the thunder and lightning. The grass dries; evening falls; and we delight together in a God who also spoke forth fireflies, little reminders of the storm that passed. Countless times during the week we draw their attention to a God worthy of praise, but one day in seven they learn something we can’t impart to them snuggled beside us on the sofa. On the Sabbath, our children learn by our side as we gather with other believers in the sanctuary.

Both the Old and New Testaments describe children involved in corporate worship. As the people of Israel prepared to first enter the Promised Land, Moses commanded them, “You shall read this law in front of all Israel . . . the men and the women and children . . . and their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God.” (Deut 31.) Years later the Hebrews were taken into Babylonian captivity. When the prophet Ezra led them back to Jerusalem, he went to the temple to pray. “Now while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women and children, gathered to him from Israel, for the people wept bitterly.” (Ezra 10.) When children hear the word of God, it touches and cleanses their hearts.

Children were among the multitudes flocking to Jesus near the Sea of Galilee. One of these sacrificed the lunch, five barley loaves and two fish, that Jesus blessed. From this one small gift, more than 5000 men were fed, aside from women and children. (Jn 6, Mt 14.) God receives the offerings of little hands.

A week before Passover, the moneychangers sat in the temple in Jerusalem, trading the faithful’s Roman coins for Jewish coins to pay the temple tax, and requiring a healthy surcharge for their service. (Mt 21.) Into their midst strode Jesus, turning over their tables and driving them out, then healing the blind and the lame who gathered there. The chief priest and scribes were furious but helpless to protest. Finally they vented their anger, not at Jesus but at the children who were shouting and singing in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” In response to such top-level indignation, Jesus defended the children, saying, “Have you not read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast prepared praise for Thyself’?” God receives the adoration of little voices.

Our little ones take in more than we realize during the worship service. When our oldest was two he always requested a “pretty song” at bedtime. One night Randy was stumped as to what song it was. “Teng teng,” was all the child could tell him. Finally I started singing a Cambodian Scripture song that ended “trang trung tome teng nah.” The little guy beamed; it was the song he wanted. Our pediatrician, when she heard the story, could not get over her astonishment. “But he hears it every week,” I explained. “This is what’s normal for him. He doesn’t know it’s another language.” So it is when our children worship with us. They experience praise and adoration of God as a normal part of life.

The new babe cradled in his mother’s arms as she sings to the Lord experiences the joy of the Spirit. We hold our toddlers and tell them, “This is a happy song about Jesus’ love . . . and this song tells that Jesus is always good,” and our joy becomes theirs. They look at the countenances of the adults surrounding them and they learn that the Jesus in their Bibles is different that the characters in their storybooks. They understand that this Jesus is real, and He likes it when we sing to Him.

During silent prayers we can take our preschoolers on our lap and whisper in their ears, “Right now we’re all praying to Jesus on the inside and telling Him we’re sorry for disobeying Him.” As we move into corporate intercession, we can paraphrase the prayers. “Miss Ellen has a very bad cold; make her well, Jesus . . . Mr. Mitchell’s son is a soldier; Jesus, keep him safe.” When Miss Ellen is released from the hospital, or the Mitchell boy is back from duty, we remind the children, “You prayed for her. Jesus made her well . . . See how Jesus kept him safe.” Our small ones will know that God hears their prayers.

When the rural postal carrier delivers my day-old chicks, I will try to raise them well. I want them to mature into healthy, productive creatures with the strength to escape predators’ attacks. We want no less for our children. By including them in worship, teaching them that they are valuable to God, we can strengthen their young wings for the day when they take flight.