Thought of the Day !!

 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” – Mark 10:13-15 (NLT)

Jesus was telling us that we must learn to be more like children in some areas.  He doesn't want us to learn how to be childish, which is a selfish kind of behavior.  He wants us to learn to be more childlike.  I take this to mean that to enter the Kingdom of God we must regain some of that lost innocence that we once had as child.  

Children can teach us unconditional love and unwavering trust.  Have you ever noticed two kids that one day leave each other mad, claiming to "hate" each other only to be playing again the next day?  I remember that being me.  I remember that having a friend to play ball with the next day was much more important than holding on to whatever it was that caused me to be mad the day before.

You can also see complete trust in a small child's face who asks his/her daddy to throw them up in the air...higher...higher...higher.  They may have much more faith in the ability of the daddy to catch them than even the daddy himself.  This is because deep inside of them they trust that nothing bad can happen to them when they're in their daddy's arms.  

When Jesus tells his disciples (and us) that "the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children", he means that it belongs to those who can recapture, or learn the kind of innocent love and faith that sometimes it seems only a child can have.  

Somewhere along the line we were betrayed, the world brought about harsh realities, we were taught immoral or unethical ideals or maybe we got bitter or untrusting for some other reason.  It's time to let go of the problems of this world when it comes to our Father in Heaven and reach out to him like a child reaches out to a parent he/she trusts with his/her life.  For God won't let go.  He'll never leave.  He'll always be right there.  It's because He loves you so much.  And Amen for that!

In the love of Christ,

greg