I have been thinking about the song that we used to sing in Sunday school. You know, the one that says “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world..”

I am reminded of the scripture that says in Matthew 19:14  “But Jesus said. “Let the little children come to Me and do not forbid them. For of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

We are all children of our heavenly Father. My understanding is that there is no child young, old, of any culture, ethnic race, religion or creed that is left out. Murderers, rapists, sex traffickers, drug addicts, homosexuals, alcoholics, fornicators, gossipers, slanderers, the sick, the deceased, and the afflicted are all considered His children. They do not have to earn the right to become His children no matter what their background is. They are all His children and either recognize Jesus or have not recognized Him yet because no one has presented the real Jesus to them.

Now, I think sometimes we have an attitude that God loves some more than others. We don’t mean to have that attitude, but at times it is there in our churches and fellowships. Many times we keep persons out of our fellowships that are homeless because they smell, or they are the wrong color, or they are a murderer or even a divorcee. Perhaps they dress funny or they are too noisy, or they act out of social graces and maybe have a mental illness. My contention is, are not these the people that Jesus came to bring to Himself? Aren’t these the people that Jesus would visit first?

We don’t have to look very far, maybe even the street corner where there is someone who is asking for some money because they have come on hard times. We think, “well, could they not get a job?” Yet we do not know their situation.

Jesus said, “suffer the little children to come to me.” We are the Jesus that they see and we always need to remember that Jesus only did what His Father told Him to do. I want to submit that sometimes we are not listening, and even when we are, we let our natural mindsets get in the way. I do this sometimes and I think that we all do.

God says, “always ask the Lord what He wants you to do in any situation. You may be confronted with a homeless person who is claiming that they have no place to lay their head. We ask, “what would Jesus do”? You may see someone in line at the supermarket and they do not seem to have enough to pay for their groceries. Do we need to ask what would Jesus do in this situation? Sometimes it is better to have mercy than to deliberate about whether the person is worthy or not. Even if they are not, they will remember that the Lord compelled you to do something out of the ordinary for no reason other than to bless one of God’s children. Isn’t love the greatest aim?

The Kingdom of God includes children of all ages everywhere. But are we ready to receive them? Oh yes, it gets messy. We can be like the men or women who Jesus invited to His banquet. They had all kinds of excuses not to come, yet it was the most important invitation of their lives! It is likened unto the words in Revelation 22:17  that says, “And the Spirit and the bride say “come”! And let him who hears say “come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely..”

The invitation is open to everyone. Everyone means everyone who has been born of man and who will be born. All of God’s children are qualified. We who call ourselves the “saints of the most high God” have the commission to make Jesus so desirable and irresistible that the “children” will not be able to resist Him.

So, our commission is to present the real, beautiful, merciful, graceful, loving, healing Jesus to the world and to do it in such a way as to show the world who He really is.  Remember that Jesus said to the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43  “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Written by:  Joyce Euren

Published on 10/24/2017