Love: If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:2
Jesus: Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me;
Matthew 19:13-14
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Jesus’ first pupils had so much to learn and they were trying. It was a lot to comprehend, to say the least. Not only did they have all the lessons Jesus taught, they were also witnesses to all of Jesus’ miracles. And they were even privileged to do a few miracles and cast out demons themselves. Is it any wonder they got a little uppity when a few scrawny kids drew near their Master Teacher? Surely children were not worthy of the Messiah’s time. But Jesus. (I still love that little three letter word). But Jesus rebuked His disciples and gave of Himself to each child who was brought to Him. As a bonus, He added in a lesson on humility and the nature of heaven.
Interestingly, the next experience this band of followers would encounter was with a rich young ruler asking how to have eternal life. I wonder if the disciples were excited at the possibility of this rich influential guy joining their group. Jesus told him to obey the two most important commandments: love God and love others. Then Jesus told this ruler to sell all he had, give to the poor, and then come follow Him. This man wouldn’t do that and he left.
The very one that appeared to be a great addition to their group wouldn’t come to Jesus, and the wee little ones the disciples tried to block from coming were embraced by the Savior.
We need to guard against having so much knowledge and understanding of mysteries we hinder the little ones (whoever that may be) from coming to Jesus while giving preference to those we think would be great to have on His team. We are not the screening producers for Jesus in a reality show. It is not our place to judge who will lay down all and come and follow. We are His disciples, His students.
Our job is to love the whosoevers and bring them to Jesus.
Journal’s Malice
My friend pulled out another journal. I’d lost count of what number. She turned to the page marked by a pink slip of paper. She started reading about a back yard club I helped start and participate in with another friend. She went on and on about my attitude and some quip remark I’d made to the other friend. Of course, she asked if I remembered the incident and of course I replied I didn’t.
I did ask her if this other friend had shared this information with her. She said she did and that is why she wrote it down. I asked if this other friend was offended. She said she didn’t really know, but wanted to bring it up to me because she would be offended if I’d said it to her. After all, my sarcasm was my worst feature.
Then I asked if she remembered me telling her about the little guy who came to the Lord during the week of our little back yard club. She did recall that, but it did not negate my attitude problem and isn’t it a good thing God worked in the boy’s life in spite of me?
A tear slipped down my cheek. I let go of my husband’s hand to wipe it away. No one would see weakness, not if I could help it.
To be continued…
One Another Living 