Some people brought children to Jesus to place his hands on them and to pray for them, but the disciples scolded the people. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
He placed his hands on them and then went away.
- Matt19:13-15
‘It’s the stuff of Emily Post and W. C. Fields: the behavior of children. They can be disruptive, indecorous, unreserved, uninhibited—everything we adults aren’t and don’t want to be. We place them at separate tables on holidays, and prefer that they be seen and not heard. Why then would Jesus so pointedly welcome children into his presence? Influential people, and good people, were in that crowd seeking eternal life and knowledge of him. Surely they were more important than a bunch of kids. Surely they warranted more respect than this!
Not from God’s perspective! For children represent an unvarnished picture of what it is about all of us that pleases him. God our Father values each and every one of us deeply and unreservedly. Our manner of approaching him, our importance or unimportance, our personal excellence or lack thereof—these things don’t put off God. No matter what we’re like or how we’ve behaved, no matter what might make us undesirable in the eyes of society, God wants us to come to him.
In prayer today, ponder what God says to us—to you—in Scripture. “Come to me . . . and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love” (Isaiah 55:3). “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). “Who [ever] comes to me I will not cast out” (John 6:36). “Let them come to me, and do not prevent them” (Matthew 19:14). These are all direct, unqualified invitations! “All” are invited; no one is turned away.
God has made us his children and heirs. To all who believe in his name, who receive him and allow him to live in their hearts, he gives the power to become children of God (John 1:12). It is not impossible, it is the desire of God’s heart! It is not for the few but for everyone. God wants to see and hear from us; he wants us to speak up to him; he wants us at his table, especially on holidays. Our supposed lack of manners doesn’t put him off, and he will never tell us, “Go away kid, you bother me.”’
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