Reflections of Dwight L. Moody

Deuteronomy 11:19 (ESV)

You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

As a graduate of Moody Bible Institute I always love reading stories of Dwight L. Moody who was one of the great evangelists of the nineteenth century. His father died when Dwight was only 4 years old, leaving his mother to raise 9 children who were under the age of 13. With only a fifth-grade education, Moody moved to Boston at the age of 17 with the goal of making a lot of money. Shortly after his move, he found faith in Jesus Christ and came to the realization that his goal of making money may not be honoring to God. He spent the rest of his life in various evangelistic and discipleship causes, becoming one of the more effective evangelists of all time. It is thought that he presented the gospel to over 100 million people.

Moody surprised many be saying:

"If I could relive my life, I would devote my entire ministry to reaching children for God!"

Even after all his countless accomplishments, how can the evangelist have said that he would throw all that away to devote it to reaching children for God. In fact, many have reported that Moody came back from a revival and reported that 2 ½ people were saved. His listener responded, “You mean two adults and one child?” Moody responded, “No, two children and one adult. When you save a child, you save a life—a whole life.”

Perhaps Moody knew that people are most open to the gospel when they are children. They absorb biblical information easily and they are moldable. They are formulating their perceptions of God, the world, and people. In general, they have longer to live and impact others for Christ.

God’s instructions to the Jewish people were clear. He wanted them to teach His commands to their children and reiterate those teachings often—when they sat at home, when they walked along the road, when they lay down, and then they got up. Each event of the day could be used to teach God’s principles to a child.

The children in your sphere of influence will only be children for a short time. Will God use you to change the spiritual course of their lives?

Dear Lord, we pray for wisdom today so that we may know how to reach the children. Give us the words that will touch their life for You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.