Psalm 127:3 says; Children are a gift from the LORD; they
are a reward from him. Now I’m not going to lie to you – this scripture is not
always on my heart when it needs to be. You know those times your children are
just being, well, children! Fighting
with each other, being a little whiny, not doing what they are told to do,
showing some attitude… you know what I’m talking about! But at the end of the day, when you really
look at your life with your children, you realize that this scripture really is
true! Children’ are a GIFT from the Lord!
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is when Jesus
took the little children into his arms and blesses them. The church I grew up
in has a beautiful stain glass window of this scene from the Bible. But do you know the story behind the story?
You see before the disciples tried to stop the parents from coming, they had
had a little conversation with Jesus about Who is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven. Here is what it says in Matthew chapter 18:1-6…
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked,
"Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
He called a little
child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth,
unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the
kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like
this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who
believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung
around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
Jesus goes on in Verse 10 to say…
"See that you do not look down on one of these
little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of
my Father in heaven.”
So, the highest realms of heaven include angels who are
representatives for these little ones! Sounds like children are a big deal to
God! Well, you would think after a talk like that, the disciples would remember
that Children are important. I mean, remember the stone around the neck, the
angels looking out for them? But the next day, we find out that they had missed
the whole point of what Jesus was trying to get across.
Here is what happened….some Pharisees had been trying to
test Jesus by asking him questions about divorce. In the middle of this
important discussion this is what happened:
Mark 10: 13-16 says, “People were bringing little
children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When
Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little
children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to
such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of
God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in
his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.”
Did you catch the word “indignant” in there – some
versions say “rebuked” – here is what Dictionary.com lists as the meaning for
the word Indignant: feeling,
characterized by, or expressing strong displeasure at something considered
unjust, offensive, insulting, or base:
When I hear the “indignant” term used to describe Jesus,
I think of the time Jesus went into the temple and cleared out all the money
changers. I see in my mind, thanks to Hollywood and other sources, Jesus
flipping tables, shouting and yelling.
So when I think of Jesus being “indignant” with his disciples, I picture
him saying something like...
“Guys what is wrong with you? We just talked about this
yesterday, were you not paying attention. This, this over here, my discussion
with these Pharisees: not important.
These, these kids right here: VERY IMPORTANT!!! The discussion can wait;
these kids can’t. Wake up and pay attention disciples!” (At least that is what
I would have said if I were Jesus – and thank God I’m not!)
Then, I imagine Jesus getting down on one knee and
motioning for a child to come over to him. First one and then another and soon
all of them are running to Jesus, hugging him.
You see, this is why I’m so passionate about Kidscoast.
Kids are important to God, so they are important to me. That is why I am always
challenging the Kidscoast Staff to take things to the next level of excellence.
To always make sure that we do the best job we can to teach the kids about WHO
God is, and THAT God is! I want kids to know that the God who created the
universe is the same God who loves them very much and hears them when they
pray. I want them to know that God’s Word, the Bible, is exciting and not just
a boring book of rules. Some say we add
too much fun to our lessons in Kidscoast and not enough substance. I disagree.
I want children to think church is fun, because guess what? Learning about God
should be fun, and if we keep it fun, they will want to come back and learn
more!
But you know we can’t do it alone. Last weekend, we had
almost 1,000 children come to Kidscoast! I love that, not because 1,000 is a
big number, but because 1,000 kids heard about Jesus Christ this past weekend,
and 1,000 kids had a seed planted in their hearts that God will water and grow.
How would you like to be a part of a team that reaches that many kids a week
with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? After serving in Children’s Ministry either in
a volunteer position or a staff position for the last 28+ years I can tell you
it is life changing! My plan is to serve in Children’s Ministry for the rest of
my life. I may not always be a Children’s Pastor, but I will always serve,
because it blesses me more than I could ever tell you.
How about you – are you up for a life changing
experience? Then join us on the Kidscoast team! If after six months of serving
with us you don’t see a change in your life, I’ll buy you lunch. What do you
have to lose?
