Brave, Faithful, and True: Children of the Bible

INTRODUCTION

Throughout the history of Israel and the Church, God has worked with people to carry out His will. Sometimes He does this in miraculous ways, such as Moses leading Israel through the Red Sea, or Mary giving virgin birth to Jesus. Sometimes He uses ordinary events to bring about His purposes. And sometimes God grants a person an extra-special blessing simply to show His power and His love.

Usually the people the Lord chooses to work with are grownups. But once in a while, He needs the simplicity and innocence of a child. In this book, we’ll see how God worked in the lives of famous children, like Isaac and David, as well as children who are not even named, such as the boy whose lunch fed five thousand or the girl whom Jesus raised from the dead.

One story included here does not actually come from the Bible. We’ll hear about Mary the Mother of God as a little girl, but that story comes from an ancient document not included in the Bible, called the Protoevangelium of James. We all know, though, that Mary would grow up to be just about the most important human being who ever lived, and the story of how this happens is told particularly in the first few chapters of the Gospel of Luke.

A few of the stories in this book are told in some detail in the Bible—the stories of Samuel and David, for example. But others are told more briefly, and we don’t get to hear what happened from the perspective of the child involved. I’ve chosen to tell these stories from each child’s point of view, adding in details to make the child’s experience come alive for you.

At the beginning of each story, you’ll find a reference to where you can find the passage in the Bible that it’s based on. I hope you’ll read these Bible sections first, so you’ll know exactly what the Scripture says and what I’ve added or interpreted. Remember, only the words written in the Bible are the inspired word of God—the rest is just my writer’s imagination. Everything written here could have happened that way—we just don’t know for sure that it did.

I hope these stories of children blessed by God will inspire and encourage you to love and serve Him. As you’ll see in these pages, being young is no obstacle to working with God to carry out His plan.