Preschoolers see life differently than adults. Or do they?

On Tuesdays I tell a Bible story to the 4-year-olds in the child care center at our church. One week I told them Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11-32). Also known as the story of the lost son, Jesus told this illustration to explain God’s love for us.

I told the boys and girls how a man had two sons who would inherit his farm, but the younger son demanded his portion of the estate while he was still young. So the father gave it to him. The younger son cashed it in, left home and wasted his money on wild living.

Soon the son was broke and had no place to live. He had to take a job feeding pigs, and he was so hungry he wanted to eat the pig slop. That was when he decided to return home to his father and ask to be a hired hand.

I was trying to help the children understand that God is like the father who lovingly accepted his son back home as his son. But as I was explaining that the son had no place to live, one boy blurted out, “Yeah, he didn't have a house — he was like Tarzan living in the jungle.”

Al Fasol tells about a 3-year-old who was looking with her mother at pictures in an old family album. As her mother named the people in each picture, the child noticed that she, the 3-year-old, was missing. She asked, “Mommy, where am I in the picture?” Her mother said, “You weren’t born yet.”

They continued to look at pictures, and each time the little girl asked where she was, her mother would say, “You weren’t born yet.” Finally, the little girl became tired of this answer. “If I wasn’t born yet, then where was I?” Her mother thought, and then said, “You were in heaven.” The girl answered, “Well, I may have been in heaven then, but I’m sure not there now!”

How true. This world is not heaven. In fact, it can be a real jungle out there. As Jesus told his disciples, “You will have suffering in this world” (John 16:33, HCSB). That’s because this world is not our home, if we are believers in Christ. This is just a temporary stop before heaven. No wonder Jesus went on to say. “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, KJV).

Copyright 2009 by Bob Rogers. E-mail brogers@fbcrincon.com. Read this column each Friday for a mix of religion and humor. For more “Holy Humor,” go to the Web site www.fbcrincon.com.