Matthew 19:14 “Let the children alone, don’t prevent them from coming to me.
At some point in time many people forget about the joy of being a child. Enjoying, creativity, imagination, and being transparent.Kid’s forget quickly, and they enjoy so many things over and over again.
One day, children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus intervened: “Let the children alone, don’t prevent them from coming to me. God’s kingdom is made up of people like these.” After laying hands on them, he left. Matthew 19:14-15
Children hold a special place in the heart of God. Why Is that? There are probably several reasons, and most of them you intuitively already know. The standard answer is that childlike faith is something that God wants all of us to exhibit. There’s a sense of innocence that children have. Children tend to love and accept people.
I love kids. I love their expressions. Kids are fun to be with, often more fun than adults. I love to see them relate to others. I love the way they communicate. I love their spontaneity. I love the “charm of their vocabularies.”
Ever read some children’s letters to God? Listen to some of these:
Dear God, are you really invisible, or is that just a trick? Lucy
Dear God, did you mean for the giraffe to look like that, or was it an accident? Billy
Dear God, I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church. Is that OK? Neil
The fact is, Jesus flat out loves children, period. There may be some basic reasons. Kids are awesome. They love without filters. They often give or love regardless of who you are. They believe. They tend to give you the “benefit of the doubt.” If you say you’re going to do something, they just believe you’re going to do what you say. I know we all have stories about kids wanting more, more, more. And we see the gimme, gimme, gimme’s as well. But if you really hang out with kids, you see there is a relative goodness and desire to please others.
You and I should want to love like that. And I really think Jesus wanted people to see this quality in the children as something worth emulating themselves. So, where are you at? More childlike today than yesterday? Accepting, believing the best in people, desiring an innocence in dealing with people with no pre-judgment filters?