It's About the Kids
I am giving thought to the content of a song I first heard on Christmas Eve more than 40 years ago. The year was either 1982 or 1983. The impact of the words and their implications are evident whether it was the former or the latter year.
In 1955, my father and mother opened what eventually became a successful florist business. Following Dad’s death in 1977, mother continued the ownership and operation of the business until her retirement in 2004. She passed away in 2019. Both of my parents are greatly missed. However, though Christian hope is undeserved, “but by the grace of God” (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:10), it is “as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19-20).
On the aforementioned Christmas Eve, I was asked to help with some last-minute Christmas flower deliveries. All went well with the deliveries, and on the return to the florist shop the Sun was setting and nightfall was coming. As I drove the delivery truck, the radio was playing many of the songs of the season. It was at this time that I first heard the song referred to at the beginning of this article. Even though it has been more than 40 years, the song’s impact remains deeply etched in my mind.
“Thank God for Kids” was originally recorded in 1976 by the song’s composer, Eddy Raven. However, what I heard on Christmas Eve in the 1980’s was a version of the song done by The Oak Ridge Boys from their Christmas Album. I encourage you to listen to this song. In my opinion, the YouTube version is best. To this day it remains among the most powerful ballads I have heard. Though it is not a traditional holiday song, it is often played during the Christmas season. To many people it is the definitive performance of a classic country ballad. No doubt much of the power of the song is in the implied innocence, joy, wonder, and imagination that characterize a child. However, there is a sense in which the ultimate power of the content of this song resides in the absolute intrinsic value of a child. The song asks,
Do you ever stop to think or wonder why
The nearest thing to heaven is a child?
When you get down on your knees tonight
to thank the Lord for His guiding light
Pray they turn out right
Thank God for kids
The power of the truth of the absolute value of children is implied in the biblical affirmation of the psalmist who wrote, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord . . .” (127:3). The ultimate evidence of a child’s absolute value, in some sense, may be the imagery attached to the Messianic reign of the Branch (the rod of Jesse)—King Messiah (cf. Isaiah 11:1-5). The time is described as when “a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6). Simeon was a “just and devout” man “waiting for the Consolation of Israel [cf. Isaiah 40:1ff] . . . [who] would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ . . . the Child Jesus . . . [Whom] he took up in his arms and blessed God . . .” (Luke 2:25-28).
It was this Child Jesus who “increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52) and “began His ministry at about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23). Concerning one aspect of this ministry of three and one half years, McGarvey wrote, “The tenderness which He manifested toward the little children should cause parents to more rightly appreciate them, and to labor more assiduously [vigorously, energetically] to bring them up in the doctrine and discipline of the Lord” (Commentary on Matthew and Mark, 327).
Before I ever heard the song, “Thank God for Kids,” I heard Thomas B. Warren say, “People ask me, ‘Why are you trying to debate atheists?’ Because I want young people [children] to have a chance of hearing the other side! We need to carry the battle to the best the skeptical world has to offer. . . . Neither they, nor anyone else, can defend atheism or agnosticism against a Christian properly prepared.”
“When you get down on your knees tonight to thank the Lord for His guiding light, and pray they turn out right, thank God for kids.” And, while you are at it, thank God for Warren Apologetics Center. It needs your support for such a time as this! It’s about the kids!