For what must have been many hours, the resurrected Jesus had ministered among the Nephite multitude, teaching important doctrines and blessing the sick and afflicted. Now, He commanded that their children be brought forward. He blessed them one by one, then wept and prayed to the Father for them.

"Behold your little ones," he said to the people, whereupon the heavens opened, and angels descended in glory, encircling the children and ministering to them.

Perhaps there could be no greater or more dramatic illustration of the esteem in which Heaven holds children than this incident from 3 Nephi 17 in the Book of Mormon.

In some respects, it is reminiscent of the occasion in Matthew 18, when "Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of [the disciples],

"And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

"Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (verses 2-4).

Today, as anciently, the call is given to those who would seek and serve the Master: "Behold your little ones." For though children possess the humility and malleable character that all must cultivate to gain the kingdom of heaven, they cannot teach themselves.

Parents in Zion are strictly charged to rear their children in righteousness, to teach them "to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands," to teach them "to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord" (Doctrine and Covenants 68: 25, 28).

Perhaps more so than ever before, children today are endangered by Satan and his evil minions. For example, the Web site for the Galveston County Sheriff's Department in Texas notes that children as young as 9 are now getting caught up in youth gang crimes and that older gang members recruit younger ones to do the criminal acts, including drug trafficking and shootings. On the occasion cited above, in which Jesus placed a child in the midst of the disciples, He gave the ominous warning to any evil-disposed individual who would prey upon little ones that "it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6).

Imperiled as they are from the devices of the evil one, children stand in need of constant watchcare from parents and teachers. Clara W. McMaster, a member of the music committee of the Primary General Board, recognized this in 1958 when she penned the words to a song that was to be presented by Primary children and adults at April general conference. "Teach Me to Walk in the Light," now part of the Church hymnbook (No. 304), is in the form of a dialogue, in which a child asks for guidance in praying and in learning "the things that are right," calling forth the response from the parent or teacher in verse 2:

Come, little child, and together we'll learn

Of his commandments that we may return

Home to his presence to live in his sight —

Always, always to walk in the light.

In fulfilling this great charge to teach children to walk in the light, parents may look to our Eternal Father Himself for a model. That is implied in the comparison given by Christ: "What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:9-11.)

Of course, the pattern of our Heavenly Father suggests that giving "good gifts" does not always mean granting what the child may find most pleasant or desirable at the moment. Some psychologists and authors observe the damage inflicted when parents seem to feel that a child's life should be totally serene and free from frustration. (See Betsy Hart, "2 New Books Help Counter Parenting Myths," Scripps Howard News Service, published in the Deseret Morning News, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2003, p. AA6.)

It is not always easy to emulate the divine model in rearing children but, with the aid of heaven-sent inspiration, it is within the capacity of parents. At times, they may find themselves, as Nephi, being "led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which [they] should do" (1 Nephi 4:6). But through it all, there is the promise expressed in the words of the prophet Isaiah: "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." (Isaiah 40:11, emphasis added.)