A Snot-nosed Kingdom

While asking the Lord what is on His heart this morning, immediately He reminded me of the people who brought the little children to Him, and how the disciples rebuked them. The disciples of Jesus, who had been walking with Him but did not yet know Him. They did not know His heart. They saw Him as being above it all, in His perfection...maybe like some aloof king...or the Pope even. They figured He couldn't be bothered with little children and all of their messy diapers and runny noses. "Oh no! Keep those kids away from Jesus!! Don't offend Him!"

But Jesus quickly set them straight. He told the disciples who were trying to protect Him..."Hey, guys...let the little children come to me..." And even went further, saying "The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these." And then He proceeded to lay His hands on their little heads and pray for them! The whole group had to wait and watch while He ministered His love to these little ones. And they didn't move on until He was done. ("When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.") How annoying! They were following Jesus, listening to Him preach like they had never heard a preacher before, and the whole thing was put on hold so that he could spend time with some rug rats. Hmmmph!!

I realized how very much this does not sound like our gatherings today. We have visited a LOT of churches up here, and in every one we went to, the kids are left at the door of the nursery or classroom upon entering the building. Why is that? What has happened? I have heard countless stories from elder family members about how they had to behave in church, how as they grew older, they began to be touched by the songs and the music...even some who answered an alter call at a young age. So why are we now forcing the children out of our midst?

Well, I think for one thing...children are messy. They are noisy. Their poopy diapers are stinky. And our church services have become so slick and well-orchestrated that we just don't have room for such distractions. Yet, what is God's heart? Well, Jesus told us if we have seen Him then we have seen God. And He made it very clear how He felt about little ones.

Life is messy. Love is messy. Verrrrrry messy. And we need children around us to remind us of this fact. We can't orchestrate life like we try to orchestrate our Sunday services...perfect music, perfectly timed offering, and perfect sermon. Life is perfectly messy. God creates out of chaos, not man-made perfection. What we perceive as perfection must be quite amusing to Him!

Anyway...this is what God showed me was on His heart this morning. Maybe we need to listen. Maybe 2016 is a year of honoring the little souls who are so honored by our Lord. Maybe it's time to allow them to dance and sing off-key, and minister in our gatherings. We say "there's no such thing as a junior Holy Spirit" but do we really believe it? Maybe we have a lot to learn about God's Kingdom from them.