In his book Outlive Your Life – You Were Made to Make a Difference, Max Lucado tells a story about a reporter that was covering a conflict in Sarajevo when he saw a little girl shot by a sniper. The back of her head was ripped away by the bullet. The reporter shoved his day job on the backburner and rushed to the man who was holding the child. He helped them both into his car and raced to the hospital.
“Hurry, my friend,” the man said, holding the bleeding child. “My child is still breathing.”
A moment later, “Hurry, my friend. My child is still warm.”
Lastly, “Hurry. O my God, my child is getting cold.”
The little girl died by the time they arrived at the hospital. While they were washing the blood off their hands and clothes in the washroom, the man looked at the reporter and said, “This is a terrible task for me. I must go tell her father that his child is dead. He will be heartbroken.”
The reporter was stunned. He looked at this grief-stricken man and said, “I thought she was your child.”
The man shook his head and said, “No, but aren’t they all our children?”
After Jesus stooped to wash His disciples feet He said, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:15). His service is not limited to the adult section of the shoe store. We must humbly love and serve children.
Jesus loves children! He took little children into His arms, placed His hands on them, prayed for them, welcomed them into His presence, and loved them(Matthew 19:13-14). He said, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me” (Mark 9:37).
We’re in a season of graduation, weddings, and transitions within families. Parents speak of being empty nesters, shut doors on empty bedrooms, and wonder what life will hold for them in the future. In GEMS season and outside of GEMS season, the call is the same to singles, empty nesters, and parents with bedrooms full of children: love children! Follow Jesus’ example and spend this summer gathering them into your arms, serving them, and praying for them.
