What would your response have been to that radical change of direction? Would you have dismissed the children? Put them in their place for interrupting this important discussion? Matthew 19:13-15 shows how Jesus responded. It says...
Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.
As you can see in the passage, the disciples responded to this interruption the way many of us would have. "Get those kids out of here!" But Jesus does not. The kids are important to him. He does not push them away. He draws them closer, bringing them close so he can lay his own very, very busy hands on them. Jesus knows this truth... the kingdom of God belongs to people like these kids.
This week is our church's annual overnight children's camp. Six days and nights of kids. Kids. KIDS! They are everywhere! And do you know what comes with a hundred kids? Noise. Today's kids are no different than kids 2,000 years ago. We have this idealistic picture of these little perfect angel children gathered around Jesus. Right. That's funny. Having a three year old and five year old, I find that thought rather humorous. I'm sure the kids coming before Jesus were an energetic bunch. Like every other small child.
Jesus' response was to let them come. He didn't quiet them down first or make them into little adults first. Just let them come. Just as they are. Our worship time at camp is noisy. It's loud. There's singing. Sure. But there's also clapping, shouting, jumping, and dancing. The occasional conga line makes an appearance as well! It's like a dance party. The kids come to God the way they should... as kids. Passionate and energetic. Maybe as adults we should encourage that more from our kids. Maybe we should even follow the example. After all the God's kingdom is for those like these kids. Are you like the kids? Consider passages such as Psalm 84, 149, and 150 and 2 Samuel 6:22.
Let's not try to mold our children's worship into ours. Let's consider molding our own after theirs. Go head... jump a little.
worship Him 24/7...
Scott