Tell Me the Story

Read: Mark 10:13-16
S	Mark 10: 15 (NLT) “I assure you, anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God.”
O	1.    Jesus was referring to childlike faith; full of unrestrained trust and devotion. 2.    Children of God have no desire to give in to bigotry and hatred. 3.    Parents trusted their children to Jesus. 4.    Jesus was often criticized for spending time with the “wrong people”.  Jesus’ disciples were guilty of same thing here. Jesus was “very displeased” with them.
A	There was a time when my son would bring me his shoe and climb onto my lap. He would do it so trustingly and devotedly.  As he grew, he eventually stopped coming to me with these needs, unless it was to untangle a shoestring. The harder he tried to untangle the knot, the worst it became. Until one time I asked him, “Why didn’t you bring me your shoe in the first place?” As we mature, we wear a variety of shoes. Walking shoes give way to play shoes, which eventually turn into work shoes. Yet the shoes we wear at our wedding, will be the same type of shoes we’ll wear at our children’s wedding.  Like children, we still need help putting on our shoes. Jesus tells us, it is always okay to trust Him.  It is always okay to come to Him.  To bring Him our children and our lives.  He even wants us to bring Him our tangled up lives, when should have come to Him in the first place. My wife is a teacher and spotted a pre-school child trying get someone to read the title of a song in a hymnal to him.  The child could not read yet and would have accepted anyone’s help.  Everyone seemed too busy, however, my wife stopped to answer the question that he so desperately wanted to know. Of all the songs in the hymnal that could have been chosen, the one he picked out was entitled, “Tell me the story of Jesus”.  She read the title and sang the first verse to him.  The child beamed with delight as my wife sang, and took a moment to show him the Jesus in her.
P	Loving Father. I want to come to You like a child, full of wonder, questions, trust, and not just when I get my life tangled up. I brought You my children, so they may get to know You. I bring them to You every day in prayer.  Help them to come to You in their lives.  In Your name I pray, Amen.