The New Great

Children have been in the spotlight the past few weeks, sadly, in the role of victims.  Jesus lifts them up as role models for his Kingdom that we all are called to follow.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, giver of all good things, as we enter this week of Thanksgiving, help us to slow down long enough to actually see the many gifts you have given us.  Remind us that our place and importance is yours alone to assign to us.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Matthew 18: 1-5

Comments

As adults and parents, we often think of the importance of teaching our children how to live and live well.  We teach them manners, math, and how to pray.  According to Jesus, however, there are important things we need to learn from them about living in God's Kingdom. 

We, like the disciples, tend to think of greatness in terms of whether we make the all star team, are the top earners in our companies, get promotions, or gain recognition.  Jesus, however, points to a vulnerable, trusting child, whose everyday existence is an exercise of trust in those around her and says, "Now that is true greatness to my Father."  Greatness in the Kingdom seems to be measured by how much we trust and depend on God, not in the accomplishments we acheive on our own power.

So many of us are control freaks, living our daily lives as though we were the ones solely responsible for our survival.  Parker Palmer uses the phrase "functional atheists" to describe all of us who may say we believe in God but live as though God has left us alone to fight for our own survival.  Life in God's Kingdom looks very different.  It looks like a peaceful, trusting, response to God's continual provision and care. 

Jesus lays down a great challenge for us.  He says that no one can even enter the Kingdom of God unless we have the kind of deep trust that we see in the lives of children.  That kind of trust is foreign in our world where the vulnerable are often exploited.  That's probably why Jesus was so ticked off when he warned anyone who causes a vulnerable one's trust to be damaged that it would be better for them to jump off a bridge with a stone around their neck.  So...

Life Questions:

1.  How can we humble ourselves and trust more fully in our Heavenly Father? 
2.  May God give us grace to be worthy of the trust of our children and of the God who gave them to 
     us to help raise in faith.

Prayer

Precious Jesus, who heals the sick, feeds the hungry, forgives the sinners, frees the oppressed, and whose grace sustains us every single moment of the day, give us larger faith to trust in you.  When we see children, let us see our relationship to you through their eyes.  Thank you for your love.  Amen.

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