“The boy wasn’t just standing there awkwardly in the middle of the room. Jesus embraced him close to Himself in joyful affection. What an image. What a Savior!
This instruction is so key for us as Christians. But I was thinking about how gracious the Lord is, even in this. I mean, it’s an upside-down Kingdom, last will be first, and it flows counter to the corrupted human nature. So, it’s a challenge, to be sure, but did you notice the bar is set kind of low? Here’s what I mean: Become like this child. Ok, just realize that Jesus loves you and can be trusted and that we have a lot to learn and we should follow His directions and allow ourselves to be embraced by our Savior. We make it harder than it needs to be.
And then, when it comes to serving, the bar is still pretty low. It wasn’t, “Whoever raises this child from the dead in My name,” or, “Whoever heals the infirmities of this child in My name.” It wasn’t even, “Whoever converts this child.” Just welcomes. Receives. Meaning we make it our business to represent Christ with love and action and truth to whoever He brings into our path – recognizing they are gifts given to us to receive, well then the Lord counts that as greatness in His Kingdom.”
