Like A Child

…to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. Ephesians 1:10 (ESV)

This past weekend I went to church with my grandkids. One of them is under a year old. As we sat in his class, he noticed another baby, younger than he was. She was sitting in a stroller. He crawled over, pulled himself up at the foot of the stroller and with great curiosity gazed at her. As he stared at her, his eyes lit up with a smile and you could tell he was trying to engage her.

As I read the text above, I wondered what it would look like if the world were unified in Christ. What if we didn’t have divisions because of our race, our sex, our political party? What if we were not divided by how much money we made or where we lived or the jobs we had? And as Christians, what if we were not divided by our theology or our denominations?

What if we saw everyone the way Jesus does? We are all his children. We are all loved. We are all accepted and welcomed. When I watched my grandson engage the other child, the text popped into my head “you must become like little children.”

Maybe this is a good way to start the week; seeing all people as God’s children. Can we look at each other with genuine curiosity and openness? Can we embrace others just because like us, they are a child of God?

Today, I am going to let a little child lead me and I am going to try to love like Jesus does.

Hiding From Love

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:8-9 (NIV)

A few weeks ago I was at my daughter’s house cooking dinner. My grandson wanted to help. Now this kind of thing can be a bit tricky because I wanted him to help me but we also needed to be safe. So, I let him climb up on his step stool next to me to help me stir the pot on the stove.

I told him over and over again to not touch the pot because it was hot. I had a hold of one of the pot handles (and it wasn’t hot) and I had my other hand out in front of him to keep him from touching anything. But you guessed it. Inadvertently, he reached up and touched the other handle…..which was hot.

He quickly pulled his hand back and then had a reaction I didn’t expect. He stepped off the stool, ran up the stairs and hid in his room. Completely unsure of what was happening, I quickly followed. I found him hiding in his room and pulled him into my arms to hug him.

I am not sure what caused him to react like this. I don’t know if he was hurt, if he was embarrassed because he touched the pot when I told him not to or if he was afraid he’d get into trouble. But something struck me as I thought about this later. Don’t we do this with God?

We do something we know he doesn’t want us to do and we withdraw from our relationship with him. We get hurt or we’re embarrassed or we’re afraid we’ll get into trouble and we distance ourselves. We don’t pray, we don’t come to have our normal conversations. We disconnect.

And when we do, God has the same reaction I had with my grandson. He comes to find us. He runs after us and he pulls us into his arms whispering words of love and assurance. He tells us that no matter what we are loved and no matter how many times we reach for something we shouldn’t, he will be there to pick us up so we can try again.

That’s because he loves us. Not matter what we do, we are his kids and he will do anything to make sure we know it.

Let's Fight

I will contend with those who contend with you. Isaiah 49:25 (ESV)

The definition of contend is to compete, vie, contest, fight, battle, tussle, go head to head. In Isaiah God says he will contend for us. He will get involved, stand in the gap and battle for us. He will go before us and battle our battles. He will fight for what we are fighting for.

And I think he expects the same from us.  I think he wants us to fight for what's important to him. Primarily, his kids. What does that look like? Maybe it looks like coming along side someone who is struggling, placing an arm around their shoulders and giving them a hug. Maybe it will be showing up on moving day or during a time when someone feels overwhelmed and alone. Maybe it's going to your knees and battling in prayer. It is never watching from the side-lines and doing nothing. It means following that prompting to be in the middle of a sometimes messy life.

There are so many ways that we can come along side God to "contend" for each other. One of the things I've discovered in this discipleship journey, people are the most important thing to God. He puts them in your path for a reason. He's inviting you to join the battle - to go head to head for his kids. Join in! You have an army of angels all around and the power of God at your front.

Will it be hard sometimes?  Yes! Will it be worth everything you pour into it? Most definitely! One thing you can be sure of....the reward is huge. When you bow before Jesus and hear him say, "Well done good and faithful servant!" you will know it was all worth it.