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Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.”
Thought for the day: If I had been one of the original disciples, I would almost certainly have been the one who spent most of the time closest to Jesus. After all, He’s given me the gift of teaching and every program that’s going to be great needs those who can take the principles being handed out and duplicate them in the lives of common followers. Besides, everyone knows how dedicated I am and how much the Lord depends on me for getting things done through others. No! No! A thousand times, no! People are still more important than programs. At least that's what I've always been told. Egos, on the other hand, are far less important than any program or person, and we often get the two mixed up, particularly when we truly want to accomplish something big for the Lord.
Look again at today's scripture and put yourself in the place of the disciples. They were big shots in the church; leaders all and concerned about their continued position and influence. They were willing to assert themselves to make sure they lost nothing of the power they thought they'd somehow achieved for themselves. I can almost hear them.
Andrew: "Well, you must remember, I was the first of His disciples."
Peter: "But I'm older, Andy, and you know the oldest always has more honor."
Matthew: "I've probably brought the most to this ministry; you know, tax money, wealth and resources."
James: "And I've brought insights into our Lord that none of you have had."
John: "But He loves me best."
That's when Jesus stepped in with the little child to remind them of their real place in His kingdom. They were no more important than a little child; less useful probably, because the child was more trusting, better able to relax, and more fun. I’ve told the following story many times, but I want to share it with you once again as it illustrates quite well what we’re talking about.
I took two of my grandchildren to play miniature golf a number of years ago. The older one was a lot of fun because she tried hard to do well but didn't let something as silly as a score get in the way of enjoying the time we spent together. The younger one, who was just short of four years old at the time, was another story completely. I tried to teach him how to hold the club; he didn't care. I tried to teach him how to aim the ball at the hole; he didn't care about that either. I tried to teach him about waiting your turn and staying on the same hole as the rest of us - he still didn't care. He just wanted to have fun.
He hit the ball too hard, didn't hit it hard enough, didn't go the right direction, picked it up when he wasn't supposed to, lost it at least once, and eventually got it in the hole on each of the 18 holes we played. Scoring meant nothing to him. It wasn't about being first or last, best or worst. The only thing important was that he had an opportunity to hit that miserable little ball all around and spend time with a couple of people he really loves. When we finished and returned the clubs to the man at the rental counter, the man asked, "Did you get the ball in all the holes?" My grandson replied, "Yes, but mostly we just whacked it around a lot."
I wonder if we sometimes don't get so caught up in being serious and striving to achieve some degree of stature in the kingdom of God that we forget how much fun it is to just "whack it around a lot." Maybe it's time we threw the spiritual score card away and just spent some time with the Father simply because He's someone who loves us very much and wants to spend time with us. Maybe it's time we stepped back long enough to recapture the childlike faith, trust and joy that we once knew (not childish, mind you, childlike).
Now go take on your world. - Bill