"...COME TO ME."
Jesus, Himself, said it. "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." (Mt.19:14)
Of such is the kingdom of heaven. A child, willingly, honestly--without fear--comes to Jesus. A child can see who is good. They are not accepting of every hand extended to them. At least not the children I have observed. My seven grandchildren are foremost in my mind as examples. Strangers and even people they are familiar with have said, "Come here sweetie," and reached for them--only to watch the head burrow into their mom's shoulder, my neck, their daddy's chest. Not all children go to just anyone, so why would the Lord say "for of such is the kingdom of heaven"?
I also observe that my grandchildren come to me without a second of hesitation. My little 2-year-old Haylee runs with abandon to me. She stretches out of her daddy's and mother's arms in effort to come to me. When I visit my other two little granddaughters in their schools for lunch, they see me and come running. They openly hug me...no regard to what others might think.
Then there are my teenage boys. More reserved. Hesitate to greet me with the abandon they once did. BUT, let me come to their home, where peers cannot view their affections for me and they hug me, crawl up on the sofa and lay their heads in my lap and let me scratch their backs. So what child is Jesus referring to?
It's the child who wants to come to Jesus. It's the child who has no barriers between his heart to receive Christ's love. It's the child who wants to obey, not because of fear of the consequence lest he does. It's the child who seeks to know. To get closer. To be as near to Jesus as they can get. Children see goodness. They know true love. They may be fooled by a hand extended with the temptation of candy. But when the candy is gone, it is the genuine love that holds them in another's arms.
Children want to please. They want attention. In Jesus, there is attention; there is love. Children have this innate ability to believe, to trust, to love. As we get older, we learn not to trust. We learn not everything we once believed is true. We learn love has conditions. We learn to analyse and are synical--wallowing in suspicion. The older we get, the more questions we have. The probability of coming to Jesus lessens.
On Scott McKnight's site, there is a discussion thread regarding whether or how we should teach our children of our faith in Jesus. It seems an atheist, Richard Dawkins, has written a book and is advocating we let children grow up in a vacumn of thought to discover on their own, faith in anything or anyone.
I would only guess a child of this author is to learn nothing by watching him believe nothing. Yet Dawkins seems to have alot to say about believing in nothing. Thus, I suppose like I've proposed before....there is no such thing as nothing. Nothing consists of something--even if it is nothing worth thinking about.
As for me? I believe in Jesus. And I believe children need to know about Jesus before they get to the age when people like Dawkins fill their heads with worthless thought that leads to death and etenal separation from Someone who will love them eternally. [copyrighted,2007,selahV]
