Monday meditation: How good to believe he loves ALL the children!
“Here’s What Jesus Does”
Part Three: He Loves Even Little Children
Around the world children are suffering.
We blanch to see them slaughtered in their mother’s arms—or wombs—by intruders splattered with blood and drenched in hate.
We weep to discover them trapped in hospital corridors, hollow eyes and bald heads betraying the maladies attacking their young bodies.
We cheer to hear of young boys saved from what seemed like a bottomless cave and others pulled on stretchers from the wreckage inflicted by a missile or an earthquake.
We sigh and feel helpless when we read statistics about childhood poverty. But some, a dear few of us, sacrifice to keep other parents’ children in our own homes because theirs is broken.
We take for granted that some parents on the move put their careers, their income, their retirement, their pleasure—their pursuit of themselves—ahead of the children waiting at home for Mom and Dad to be there.
Or we inflict a subtle kind of suffering by elevating children to the center of our world, instead of holding their hands in the circle of concern where all the needs of each family member are equally considered.
And we cheat our children by protecting them from heartbreak, solving their problems, deciding their future, or buying them what they don’t need instead of providing them the time and guidance that are every child’s birthright.
Children everywhere are suffering, and isn’t it remarkable to realize that Jesus, the Lord of the universe, cares?
Yes, the statements he made to the disciples about children are about more than simply loving little ones. He’s asking us to remember what it meant to eagerly believe, willingly trust, and depend without question on the person who’s in charge. He wants that kind of unvarnished faith from us.
But he made his point by welcoming children, giving them attention and kindness every child desires. Surely he was not only calling us to discipleship but also giving us an example.
Many visitors to this website no longer live with children at home. But they’ve already realized the person in their care has reverted to the needs of childhood.
It’s a cruel progression. We watch our grandchildren grow through stages of dependence to independence, but the person with dementia steadily moves in the opposite direction. Duties we long since gave up—mealtime, bath time, toilet time, dressing time, playtime, bedtime—are ours again for the adult child beside us who couldn’t survive alone.
Neither can we. We need this strong and gentle Savior, and we know our loved one needs him too. He wants what’s best for them. We can imagine him stepping through our door and blessing them with a touch both firm and reassuring.
And we can touch them too, with hands strengthened by the knowledge that he’s placed them in our care for their good and his glory.
Children everywhere are suffering. But we do what we can to prevent suffering for the childlike grown-up in our care because we know Jesus loves them even more than we do.
Read: Matthew 18:1-6; 19:13-15 ESV
Pray: Lord, help us to celebrate the blessings that can be ours by caring for the one whose capacities are more like those of a child. Grant us the patience to see your touch through our service to them.
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