04.015. The Leadership of a Child
The Leadership of a Child And a little child shall lead them-- Isaiah 11:6. The primary reference here is, of course, to God’s own “little child” and his millennial reign. He is the human offshoot of Jesse’s stem, on whom rests the sevenfold Spirit of the Lord, and who subdues even the most violent and intractable natures. But there is a deeper thought here of wider application, and it may be expressed in three forms:
The child-days lead, form, and fix the future history and destiny.
The child-traits lead the way in all virtues of character.
The child-spirit leads in influence upon human society.
First, as to child-days. “The child is father to the man.” Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord, while yet a child. Luther’s schoolmaster, John Trebonius, used to doff his cap to the boys because he saw in them the future burgomasters and chancellors.
Second, as the child-traits. There are four characteristic qualities of childhood about which all the virtues cluster. Truth, center of simplicity and sincerity; Faith, akin to humility and docility; Hope, inspiring cheerfulness and aspiration; and Love, fountain of impartiality and generosity.
Third, as to child-spirit. It subdues even the most cruel, stubborn, and violent natures. Hence here the reference to the rapacious wolf, the treacherous and ferocious leopard, and the cruel and violent lion--all of them led by the little child. A few practical inferences are helpful:
We must not despise childhood’s golden opportunities. They can never be recalled if wasted.
We need to carry forward into manhood and old age the childlike traits, cultivating and guarding them.
It is simplicity, not subtlety, whereby the greatest power is ultimately wielded over men.
True greatness consists in genuineness and generosity, the union of perfect sincerity and magnanimity.
Hence rank in the Kingdom of Heaven depends upon the measure of holy childlikeness.
Hence, also, the grand epoch for securing conversion to God is that of childhood, perhaps much earlier than we think.
The Church that is not God’s nursery for young plants will find few flourishing trees for her courts.