C226 6/5/60 Children's Day
© Project Winsome International, 2000

"HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND A HIVE OF B'S"
Dr. John Allan Lavender
Jn. 3:16

This morning I want to talk to the boys and girls. You older people can listen in if you like, but what I have to say is especially for the children. I don't know if you realize it or not, boys and girls, but in the eyes of Jesus you are more important than kings. In fact, according to Jesus, a little child ranks above every other person on earth, for he said,
"Except ye become as a little child, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven."

In another place in the Bible it says,
"A little child shall lead them."
So you see, in the eyes of the God and from the point of view of the Lord Jesus you are very important. And because you rank so high in God's scale of values it is also important that you do your best to be your best. So this evening, I want to talk with you for just a moment or two about "a hive of B's" that can help you enjoy the honey of true happiness.

Now bees are very interesting creatures. I had a long talk the other night with a fellow who raises bees and I found out a lot of interesting things about them. I discovered, for instance, that a beehive is something like a city and that sometimes more than seventy-five thousand bees live in one hive. I discovered that some bees do one kind of work and other bees do another kind of work, but even so, they all work together and help each other. I discovered there are queen bees, drone bees and worker bees. And incidently, for the benefit of the men here, those worker bees are the females! Needless to say, the study of bees is a very interesting one.

But the hive of B's I'd like to talk about tonight is quite different from the honey bees my professor friend told me about the other night, and yet if you attend to them, they will give you the honey of happiness and if you neglect them, you are apt to get stung.

Behave
The first of these B's I'd like you to think about is BEHAVE. And that's a good one isn't it? The other day I heard someone say little boys are like canoes because they're handled more easily when paddled in the rear! But you know what? It really is more fun to be with children who know how to behave, than it is to be with boys or girls who are continually disobedient.

In a sense boys and girls are like puppies. They come into the world with a great capacity to make people happy, but if they're not trained and "house-broken" they can be a source of great distress. I had a dog once. He was a golden retriever. A great big dog whose daddy had been a world champion and whose mother had also won many blue ribbons. He was a beautiful dog and we called him "Golden Boy." But I didn't know how to train him. As a result, he was more trouble than he was worth. He wouldn't obey me. He wouldn't come when I called. He was forever running off unless I kept him on a chain. He was no earthly good.

But one day I met a man who knew how to train dogs and he said, "You know, I think that pup could be a real champion if someone took him in hand." And so he took "Golden Boy" and trained him. He taught him to obey, and then instead of a pain it was a pleasure to have "Golden Boy" around.


Boys and girls need to be trained, too. That requires discipline. Someone said the trouble with too many of today's smart children is that they don't smart in the right places! The Bible says, "Children, obey you parents." The reason God put that rule in the Bible is because he knew that if you learn how to behave, not only your parents, but you will be happier too.

Say, did any of you ever own a kite? When I was a boy I had a kite. It was a great big red and blue beauty. I was very proud of that kite and on a nice, brisk, windy March day I took my kite over to the school yard and began to fly it.

It was great fun to feel the strong pull of the kite on the string as it leaped and tugged as if trying to get away. It almost seemed to beg for freedom saying, "Oh, why don't you let go of the string? You think I'm high in the sky now, but if you'll only let me loose and give me freedom, I'll show you how high I can go!"

And then something terrible happened. The string broke and the kite began to fly away. It fluttered about uncertain for a moment. Then it swept from side to side, suddenly turned topsy-turvy its tail streaming out behind it, and came floating down, down, down, utterly helpless to right itself. Just as it was about to smash into the ground a strong gust of wind picked it up again and wound it around the telephone wire. There my big, beautiful, blue and red kite hung by its tail all discolored and bedraggled and torn to shreds.

You know, I've thought about that kite a good many times when I hear boys and girls gripe about the restrictions their mothers and daddies put on them. They think that if only they could be free to do as they want to do, when and how they want to do it, they'd be happy. "If only I could be free. If only I could break the cord that binds me to my home or my church or my parents or my Lord."

But boys and girls, believe me, the only true freedom is that which is found in discipline. For when you let Jesus take hold of your life he keeps you from falling prey to every gust of wind that comes blowing by. He enables you to rise to undreamed of heights, for under his sure hand you are free to be and to do you best. The Bible says,
"If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." (Jn. 8:32-36)

So the first "B" in this hive of B's for boys and girls is Behave. Learn to obey your parents, to follow their guidance and to heed their commands and suggestions. For they are trying so very hard to teach you the secret of real happiness which begins with obedience.
"Children, obey your parents, for this is right."

Belong
The second "B" in this swarm of B's that can bring you the honey of happiness is BELONG.
Now that's a kind of strange "B" isn't it? Just a moment or two ago I told you how a bee hive is like a big city and that the bees work together and help each other. One bee does one thing and another bee does another, but they cooperate with each other for the sake of the common good.

I think this is very important for boys and girls to remember. It's easy for children to think they're the only ones who matter in the home. But if you think of a home as being like a bee hive, and if the folks who live in it are going to be happy, they must learn to live together and work together, to play together and pray together, each helping the other for the sake of the common good.

That doesn't mean you're always going to agree. I read about a father who came home from work one afternoon and found his little boy sitting on the front step looking mighty unhappy. "What's wrong, son?" he asked. And the little boy replied, "I can't get along with your wife!"

There will always be times like that in any home, but the important thing to remember is that mom and dad and son and daughter are all on the same team. It's not one against the other, but rather it is all of them standing shoulder to shoulder, and arm in arm, and heart to heart, and life to life, together against the world.

It seems to me that there's a whole swarm of "B's" that could help children to increase their sense of belonging in a family.

One of my friends gave me a little booklet several years ago with a list of such "B's" and I'd like to pass them on to you tonight.

There is,
Be polite for politeness will help you more than just about any other quality you can acquire.
Be honest even when nobody's looking.
Be kind for kindness can heal hurts, and help heal broken-hearted people become whole..
And here's a good one,
Be clean! Wash behind your ears as well as in front of them and your elbows as well as your hands.
And then,
Be cheerful. You'll be surprised how many friends you can make and how many burdens you can lift with just a smile.
And of course,
Be generous. Don't always think about yourself or about what you have or would like to have. Learn the art of sharing, of giving a part of yourself away because the Bible
is absolutely right when it says, "It is more blessed to give than it is to receive."

There are so many other "B's" we might include under this idea of Belonging to the family. There is,
Be considerate.
Be careful.
Be on time.
Be patient.
And I am sure you can think of many others. But the important thing is that if you remember these "B's."They will help you remember you belong to a family. There are other people who are just as important as you, and they need you as much as you need them. If you can learn that lesson, then the "B" called BELONG will bring you a nice big gob of that honey called happiness.

Believe
The last of the "B's" I want to talk about this evening is BELIEVE. I don't think a child is ever too young to begin to learn about Jesus and his wonderful love.

The other day I heard about a little, eight-year old boy who lives in England. He wanted to be a locomotive engineer so bad he wrote the British Railway System. He said that while he was still a bit young to be an engineer he'd like to have his name put on the list for a job in 1975. Then he added, "There's also my two-year old brother who wants to be a fireman on my train."
Believe it or not, the British Railway System put their names on the bottom of the waiting list.

Well, we can smile at the foresight of an eight-year old boy looking fifteen years ahead to get a job as a railroad engineer, but my heart really leaps for joy when I find boys and girls, like some of those in our church, who are looking farther ahead than that. They are planning for eternal life by giving their hearts to the Lord Jesus.


And boys and girls, I want to say that you're never too young to give your heart to Jesus. You're never too young to love Him. To serve Him. To learn more about Him. That doesn't mean you have to be baptized and join the church. I happen to believe it's a good idea to wait awhile aftergiving your heart to Jesus before you get baptized. That way you can know what it means, and how, in this particularly beautiful way, you are able to witness to your faith in the Lord Jesus.

I never tire of telling the story of how one night D.L. Moody, the great evangelist, came home one night and told his wife he had had two and a half converts.
"Do you mean you had two men and a boy?" his wife asked.
"No," said Mr. Moody, "two boys and a man."

You see boys and girls, when you give your heart to Jesus while you're young, not only is your soul saved, but your entire life is won. It becomes a life God can bless and use and direct. A life that is available for his service. I thank God I gave my heart to Jesus when I was nine years old, for it has given me all these years in which to say,

"Thank you Lord for saving my soul.
Thank you Lord for making me whole.
Thank you Lord for giving to me
Thy great salvation so rich and free."

So this morning, if you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, if you have never opened your heart to him, won't you do it now?