Gentleness week3

 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.

When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.

Mark 10:13-16

Children are great students of human nature. Their innocence endows them with an ability to openly approach people. They seem to assume trustworthiness, even from those who might do them harm. Still, they sense the rapport they ought to feel with a truly gentle person.

The disciples rebuked those who brought heir children to be blessed by Jesus. No doubt he disciples were trying to protect Jesus. After all, He was a very busy person. Perhaps they thought Jesus' agenda was too important for Him to spend time with children. Perhaps their own agendas were more hurried still.

But Jesus' agenda was interruptable. He came to minister to people, people with needs. His love and compassion meant that if His daily task had to be set aside because someone needed to sit and talk, then that conversation became the agenda for the day.

Perhaps the children sensed that. Perhaps they approached Jesus as they would a grandparent, someone with kind eyes and time to play games and make cookies. Kind eyes and an unhurried agenda make all of us more approachable, and they make children unafraid. Jesus was not a grandparent, but I like thinking He had kind eyes and was so unhurried that children were never afraid of Him.

So children came to Jesus, and He blessed them. And the Son of God, who bore the intense burden of redeeming the planet, took the time for those who needed His blessing.

‘Let the little children come to me,’ said Jesus, ‘for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’

Heaven is a place where trust and gentleness are abundant. Live your life in such a way as to reflect heaven's virtues, and you will be quite at home when you arrive there.