We Need More Children!

Before you report me to the government and reserve a room for me at the mental hospital, let me clarify... Vanessa and I most DEFINITELY do not need more biological children! I'm talking about children in a spiritual sense. I read a passage from Matthew this morning, and 11:25-27 caught my attention. These verses tend to be overshadowed by the following two, which begin, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden..." You can probably finish that passage by memory (or at least get close).

In v25-27, Jesus says, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by the Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

In the preceding paragraphs, Jesus chides the religious establishment for being so pompous and full of themselves that they totally missed their own Messiah. I imagine he then steps back, looks in the faces of his friends (disciples) and, with all their hard-knock stories in mind, praises his Father for the divine genius, full of irony and grace, that chose to reveal the Kingdom of Heaven to the world's rejected. This reminds me of another passage I read this morning from Isaiah 55, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (v8f)

Here's the punchline... we are surrounded by people who think they know God but are not experiencing any sort of real, life-changing relationship with him. If we took a poll on a typical Sunday morning and asked the question, "When was the last time you heard God speak to you?", what do you think the response would be? God reveals himself on a daily basis to those who are willing to look and listen for him. Another word from Isaiah 55 - "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near."

I want to be a child to which God reveals himself. I pray that God would raise up more men and women who are humble, teachable and childlike so he can show himself to the world through them. Who are the unlikely, rejected or timid people around us that God has chosen to give divine boldness as he reveals himself to them... all because they "naively" believe that he will do so?

May God also raise up spiritual parents who will take personal responsibility for nurturing the faith of these children, helping them become spiritually active, personally responsible and intentionally multiplying disciples of Christ.