‘What an elder sees sitting down, a child cannot see even if that child climbs a giant iroko tree.’

This is a very popular saying with a deep message. Quite true because the elder has experiences that the child can only dream about.

But it is also true to some extent that words like this can make the older generation despise the young ones. They feel they have nothing to say.

And so from this mindset comes expressions like, ‘Children are to be seen and not heard.’

But that is far from the truth!

Pastor Nike Adeyemi at the Excellence in Leadership Conference of Daystar Christian Centre spoke about the influence of the younger generation.

She enjoined the older generation to listen to the younger generation because they HAVE A LOT TO SAY!

She said: ‘You might not be afraid of the CUB OF A LION but it is still a lion and when it grows older, it will roar at you when it remembers how you kicked it on the head.’

The CUB is a young lion but it will grow to be a ROARING LION. A lion equipped to do exploits.

It is wise to invest in the cub.

Pastor Nike spoke about the importance of influencing the next generation. Timothy had values passed on to him from his mother, Eunice and grandmother, Lois (II Timothy 1:5).

It is important to make an impact on their lives because they will affect the society we live in with the decisions they make.

Don’t think they are beyond repair. Be accessible to them; let them talk. They have something to say. They are not as ignorant as you think.

God spoke through the boy Samuel(I Samuel 3)

I heard the story of a little girl who wept and pleaded with her father not to board a plane. When the plane crashed after he listened to his daughter, the man knew that God also speaks through children.

The Bible tells us that God ordained STRENGTH from the mouth of babes and sucklings. (Psalm 8:2)

Children are God’s heritage. God will pay you for taking care of his heritage. Pharaoh’s daughter promised to give Moses’s mother wages. She did not know the woman was taking care of her own son. (Exodus 2:1-10)

I have a DREAM TEAM. It consists of young, smart ladies and gentlemen whom I relate with and learn a lot from. In fact, I have been accused of having ‘too many young friends.’ But I believe so much in the younger generation. They fascinate me and I learn a lot from them.

I have learnt by experience that the WISDOM of SOLOMON has nothing to do with the AGE OF METHUSELAH.

Do all you can to affect the younger generation positively so that in the end, you will say like the psalmist:

……..when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare your strength to THIS GENERATION……..
(Psalm 71:18 – Emphasis mine)

Protect that CUB till it becomes a MIGHTY LION!