A Little Child Shall Lead Them

He called a child over, placed it in their midst and said, ‘Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven’ (Mt. 18:2-3).

Last week, I had the great joy of having my daughter and 4-year-old granddaughter out for a visit from Chicago. For a number of reasons, it had been more than 3 years since we’d seen them. My husband and I were concerned that Arianna, our granddaughter, wouldn’t know who we are. Fortunately, our daughter had shown her a picture of the two of us that was taken at my husband’s class reunion last year, and when we met them at the airport, she recognized us immediately.

The week was filled with trips to local sites – Disneyland, the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Los Angeles Zoo, the beaches, as well as dinners with family and friends. As the week progressed, Arianna grew more and more enamored with her grandfather, to the point where she would literally launch herself into his arms whenever she saw him. (If you ask her what her favorite ride at Disneyland is, she will tell you: Grampa!)

That scene was a perfect image for how we should be with our heavenly Father. Like Arianna did with her grandfather, we should willingly fly into His open arms, knowing that He will never allow us to fall, that He has everything well in hand, and like Jen wrote yesterday, knows exactly what we should be doing. More importantly, He has made sure we have the means to do that by sending us His Holy Spirit. He promises us: I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you (Jn. 14:18).

St. Paul later took up this same theme in his letters to the early Church in speaking of our adoption as children of God and heirs to the Kingdom. He reminds us in Romans 8 that nothing – absolutely NOTHING – will stop God from loving us. We can stake our very lives on that. The Lord tells us that even though a mother might abandon her child, He will never forsake us (cf. Isaiah 49:15-16). He has called us by name and we are His own. Just as Arianna did with her Grampa, we can crawl up into our heavenly Father’s lap in complete assurance that we are safe in His love.

Now that’s what I call good news! Hallelujah!

Prayer Request: That we will become docile like little children in the Father’s arms.

Prayer: Lord, our God, we cannot begin to fathom the depths of the love You have for us. Thank you for sending Jesus to save us and to show us that love. Give us grace to put aside our pride and stubbornness, and to put our trust in Your love, that we might in turn show that love to others. We make this prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.