Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.  Matthew 18:3  NLT

Four-year-olds’ have their own unique perspective on the Christian faith. Here are some authentic stories to cheer you through the day.

On the way home from church one day, my son Jonathan, who was four years old at the time, said to his older sister, “Is the Holy Spirit a person?” “Not exactly,” said Christie. “He’s kind of like a ghost.” “Well what clothes does he wear?” said Jonathan. To which Christie replied, “He doesn’t wear clothes.” “What! He goes around naked?” exclaimed Jonathan. “Well not exactly,” said Christie, “Think of Him as a good ghost.” There was a moment’s silence as Jonathan digested what he’d heard. Then, with decisiveness, he said, “Oh! So He wears a sheet.”

A father was at the beach with his children when his four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand. “Daddy, what happened to him?” the son asked. “He died and went to Heaven,” the dad replied. The boy thought for a moment and then said, “Did God throw him back down?”

A mother invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to her four-year-old daughter and said, “Would you like to say the blessing?” “I wouldn’t know what to say,” the girl replied. “Just say what you hear Mommy say.” The daughter bowed her head and said, “Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?”

Another four-year-old was at the pediatrician for a check-up. As the doctor looked down her ears with an otoscope, he asked, “Do you think I’ll find Big Bird in here?” The little girl stayed silent. Next, the doctor took a tongue depressor and looked down her throat. He asked, “Do you think I’ll find the Cookie Monster down here?” Again, the little girl was silent. Then the doctor put a stethoscope to her chest. As he listened to her heartbeat, he asked, “Do you think I’ll hear Barney in there?” “Oh no!” the little girl replied. “Jesus is in my heart. Barney’s on my underpants.”

A Sunday School teacher asked her class of four-year-olds, “Why is it necessary to be quiet in church?” One little girl replied, “Because people are sleeping.”

In another Sunday School class the teacher began her lesson with the question, “Boys and girls, what do we know about God?” “He’s an artist!” said the kindergarten boy. “Really? How do you know?” asked the teacher. “You know – Our Father, who does art in Heaven …”

Then there was the four-year-old boy listening to a bedtime story. His father was reading about Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed. He read, “The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.” His son asked, “What happened to the flea?”

Finally, there was the four-year-old girl who was learning to say the Lord’s Prayer. She was reciting it all by herself without help from her mother. She said, “… And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us some e-mail. Amen.”

What wonderful stories. No wonder Jesus took a little child, maybe a four-year-old, and used the child as an object lesson. You probably remember the occasion. The disciples “came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea’” Matthew 18:1-6.