Suffer the Little Children to Come unto Me
"Suffer the little children to come unto me.”
One of the qualities I most admire in others (and strive for myself) is the ability to see something awkward, unlearned, or undeveloped in another person–and then to have the immediate instinct to love that person with a pure love, look past whatever might be imperfect, and let that person come close to learn, develop, and just be blessed.
This quality is strongly evident in the following two-verse biblical story: “And they brought young children to [Jesus], that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:13-14).
I greatly admire how Christ’s immediate reaction (different from the initial response of his disciples in this case) was not to worry about how spending time with children might tarnish his reputation–what other people think of him–but to care more about what these children think of themselves. Far from being too busy or high above to interact with people on a lower tier, he wanted these children to find in themselves what he saw in them–the stuff of the kingdom of heaven.
In short, I love that Christ’s instinct is to suffer the “little children” to come unto him. And I believe that so many others around us could be similarly blessed if we each could develop such an instinct ourselves.
One of the qualities I most admire in others (and strive for myself) is the ability to see something awkward, unlearned, or undeveloped in another person–and then to have the immediate instinct to love that person with a pure love, look past whatever might be imperfect, and let that person come close to learn, develop, and just be blessed.
This quality is strongly evident in the following two-verse biblical story: “And they brought young children to [Jesus], that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:13-14).
I greatly admire how Christ’s immediate reaction (different from the initial response of his disciples in this case) was not to worry about how spending time with children might tarnish his reputation–what other people think of him–but to care more about what these children think of themselves. Far from being too busy or high above to interact with people on a lower tier, he wanted these children to find in themselves what he saw in them–the stuff of the kingdom of heaven.
In short, I love that Christ’s instinct is to suffer the “little children” to come unto him. And I believe that so many others around us could be similarly blessed if we each could develop such an instinct ourselves.
Comments
Post a Comment