52 Spurgeon Stories for Children1 is a firm fixture in the bedtime routine of my almost-10-year-old son. If I happen to pick another book, he’ll ask: ‘Can you read a Spurgeon?’
For the unfamiliar, these are brief but true tales from the life of the great 19th-century preacher C.H. Spurgeon (here’s a taster: ‘How a Spider Saved a Man’s Life’).
A recent bedside appointment with my boy and Spurgeon remains etched in my mind, not for the story itself but for the precious moments we shared in its wake.
Bedtime is one of the joys of parenting: when we read a favourite story and the children listen enraptured, when we pray with them, sing to them, hold them, kiss them and stroke them before we tuck them up and whisper goodnight.
Okay, I’ll come clean – I’m being a little romantic here. More often than not the routine is punctuated by a refusal to stop playing with Lego, shrieks at the invasion of a toothbrush in the mouth, the bedtime story is interrupted countless times – and then your child won’t settle to sleep and you’re beyond exhausted.
After all, we are dealing with little sinners, however young they are; children who want their own way in their own time.
But at this particular bedtime with my son, the busyness of family life paused for a few tender moments, and I consciously relished a time that I knew would expire within a couple of years.
The Bible verse quoted in the Spurgeon story that night read: ‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father’ (James 1.17). And we chatted about the many gifts God has provided for us.
And before I wrapped him up ‘caterpillar style’ as was my nightly custom – tucking his duvet tightly round every inch of him, down to his feet – I told him as he gazed into my eyes that he was the most precious gift God had ever given to me and his Dad (along with his older siblings, I added, lest he boast to them the next day that he was my favourite).
He didn’t respond; his large brown eyes told me everything. He enclosed me in his arms and I wrapped him in mine as tightly as you might wrap a big book at Christmas.
And I reminded him how Jesus is the most precious gift of all.
He – the God incarnate who began life in a virgin’s womb, untouched by sin. Jesus, the sinless child who never dissolved into bedtime tantrums; Jesus the adolescent who displayed no ‘Kevin the teenager’ moments; Jesus the perfect man willingly crucified as though a criminal – but rose again three days later so that we may be free.
And you know what’s incredible? If we accept Jesus as our Saviour, He calls us His adopted children and He is our Heavenly Father. This means He loves and cares for us, guides and comforts us, disciplines and nurtures us, and promises new mercy for each new day.
Just as our own children are God’s gift to us, Jesus is God’s ultimate gift to those who believe in Him. And He is our perfect example.
Knowing God personally is the answer to good parenting. It does not guarantee perfect parenting because we are imperfect, but as we raise our precious children we can ask Him for help and wisdom – and He listens and gives what we need.
As imperfect parents in this broken world, we need Jesus every hour. Parenting gets harder as the years pass, so if you are reading this and are not yet a Christian, take heart. If you acknowledge your sinful nature, repent and accept the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ, you will have the help you need to navigate parenting.
‘Imperfect Mum’ has both sons and daughters. She attends a Baptist church somewhere north of Watford.
