Hugged by a Child in a Fallen World

Little ones.

That is what my wife calls children.  That is what Jesus calls children, too, in the Gospel (Good News) of Matthew.

There are great rewards for being generous and kind to children.

There is a special damnation for causing harm to children.

This morning, I was waiting in line at a breakfast joint for a medium caramel latte.  Two small girls were in the line behind me, and they were adorable.

They had beautiful smiles, and the most innocent sweetness about them.  The older sister was probably about 5, and the little sister was probably about 9 months old.  How could I not smile back?

So I did.

The baby sister was clearly still getting her land legs, and she wobbled about upright as big sister held her hand.  What a show!

Once, a favorite professor of mind gave me advice I took to heart:  never allow a child to be bored in your presence if you can help it.

I suppose that is because children will look up to you, and give you a great shot at sharing the Gospel of Jesus' being able to save them for all eternity!

Once, a preacher gave me an example of how when a child is learning how to walk, when they stumble and fall, the goof father doesn't scold the baby for trying and failing--he picks her up and sets her on her feet and encourages her to still move forward.  That is how our good Father does us, too!

So as this little one smiled and looked up at me and shook her big sister's hand free to try to walk on her own right toward me, what was I supposed to do?  Push her away?

The big sister giggled a childlike giggle, and the little sister wobbled, all on her own, right to me, and hugged my leg like I was a long lost friend.


Jesus said, "See that you do not despise these little ones.  For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my father who is in heaven."  Matthew 18:10.  Basically, you mess with them, you mess with their guardian angels, which means you mess with the Sovereign Ruler of Everything.

Jesus also said, "So it is not the will of the Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."  Matthew 18:14

He also said, "Whoever causes one of these little ones to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea."  Mark 9:42


I laughed and patted the girl's head and said, "Aw, thank you!  OK, now."  As I gently pried her away.

The breakfast crowd "aww-ed" the scene, as I smile at the mother, who was by now finally paying attention to her children.

Momma lost it.  She then scolded her older daughter for not keeping a better eye on big sister.

I felt like a fool.

I don't fault the mother for being upset.  There are creeps out there.  I certainly wish she payed more attention to her children if she planned on scolding her 5 year old for not paying attention.

Mostly, it made me long for Heaven.  Paradise.  Where children are carefree to run free and we can give and take hugs and share laughs with everyone everywhere because there will be no more creeps, no more wars, no more hate, no more evil.  Only love.

And the Bible just so happens to say, "God is love."

How do we get there?  To Heaven?

Jesus.

Not Catholic, but...

I just read a very interesting article, in which some prominent Catholic priests cried "foul" over two major Catholic universities who will participate in March Madness basketball games on Good Friday, one of the holiest of Christian and Catholic holidays.

While most agree Christ probably did not die on this exact day in history, it was on a Friday.

As the John Mark McMillan (artist famous for writing "How He Loves" made famous by David Crowder) writes in his beautiful song, "Death in His Grave,"

On Friday a thief, on Sunday a King.  Laid down in grief, but awoke with the keys,

to Hell on that day, the firstborn of the slain.  The Man Jesus Christ laid death in His grave. 

So, I do reckon this Good Friday holiday deserves a bit of reverence, right?

CLICK HERE to read the original article I am mentioning.  I believe the priest has a point.

So this Holy Week, I hope you take a few minutes to review your week and see about perhaps becoming a bit more like Jesus.

The Israeli Pirate Story

The Scripture is Joshua 7:13.

The folks of Israel are hot to trot after a recent military victory in Jericho (not to be confused with the pro-wrestler or that sweet show on CBS that only lasted 2 seasons).

The Israelis were not suppose to plunder anything after the win.  All the fancy gold stuff was supposed to go toward the Tabernacle (throwback Tent-Temple).

Come to find out, a dude stole some stuff and buried it, attempting to save it all for himself.

He should have known that a God who can cause raging rivers to turn to dry passable paths and cause dry old boulders to spew fresh raging drinking water is able to see where he buried stolen treasure. Silly pirate--tricks don't work on God!

After such a decisive victory in Jericho, Israel only send a fraction of foot soldiers to Ai town... except the Ai dudes come out in swarms and chase them off!  So, Joshua whines to God (in essence), "Where were you?!  We are trying to conquer in life like you want and BAM!  We get blindsided!"

Sound familiar?

We try to do our best in life to get where we wanna be, and next thing we know, BAM!  We get blindsided by life...

Moral failure...
Angry friends...
Broke down car...
Divorce...
Unexpected hospital bills...
You name it.

So, God tells Joshua (the leader of the Israelis at this time) to tell the folks this: “Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord . You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you."

If you are anything like me (hopefully not too much, the world can only handle so much Billy) then when you think about it, there are some things in your life you are keeping from God.

Time...
Devotion...
Loyalty...
Tithe...
Love...
Taking care of those around you...
You name it.

So before I go blaming God when my life is in shambles... I try to do a self-evaluation:

What happened before this negative event?
Have I been faithful to God and my fellow humans?
Have I been generous with my resources?
When was the last time I prayer or read the Instruction Book (Bible)?

Some things I realize I have buried hidden from God.  I dug a hole and threw some personal things (that were never really mine to begin with--they were blessings from God) and tried to hoard them.

I am not saying every issue you face is cause God is mad at you.

But I am saying if you are in a struggle, the best way to keep God close to you so He can lead you through the storm is by "purifying" yourself.

Unveil the hidden stuff.  He knows about it anyway.

After all, it is all already His.

He is just waiting for you to act like it.