Road to Greatness [Official Music Video]
LUKE 10 | Xempt
As I child I valued my father's love and affection greatly. The moments that he took out of his day to spend with me, love on me and embrace me were some of my greatest memories with my father. Every Sunday afternoon I was told I had to go have a nap with my father and no matter how much I fought it, at the end you already know what I was doing. I was having a nap with my father. It would always begin and end the exact same way. He would start by telling me a story of when he was kid. I would listen to his voice and tone and I learned how to tell exactly how much longer I had to lay there. He would slowly begin to mumble his words, then there were no words and just mumbles, then mumbling mixed with snoring, and finally, straight snoring. That’s when I knew it was go time. I'd begin my very slow decent off of the bed then out the door.
Nowadays we laugh as we reminisce about those times. But truth be told those were some of my greatest memories as a child. But you see my father wasn’t all perfect. He had a good heart and he loved us deeply but often his mind was elsewhere. We were missionaries in the Fiji islands and my father began to pastor a church. He had a great responsibility to not only bring the Sunday message, but to also take care of the people within the church and all their needs. And being a white man in a third world country, a lot of needs arose.
Slowly, but surely, his own children began to take a back seat. When I needed somebody to talk to, he was busy talking with someone else. When the rugby ball was ready to be played with, he was busy entertaining someone else’s child. There would be many times I would walk into the office at the house and my father would ask me to either sit there and be quite or leave because he was busy preparing a sermon. Now I don’t condemn my father in any way, but I do recognize that certain priorities of his weren’t straight.
As we look at Luke 10:13, it shows a picture of how Jesus Himself reacted when the children ran to him. Now we gotta remember that Jesus wasn’t just chilling with his boys chit-chatting about the latest thing. No, He was going hard teaching people the ways of the God. Now if you ask me, that’s a busy man preaching a pretty important message. But as we read verse 14, when the children came running to him, He responded in this way: “Let the children come and do not hinder them”. Jesus, fully man and fully God, the creator of all, the high king who sits on the throne, welcomed these children with open arms. I think the Sunday school picture of kids sitting on his lap playing with his hair is exactly how it went down. They were valued, loved, and wanted by God himself - and so are you. He is the same yesterday today and forever. You can stand on this. Even if God was restricted by time, He would still take the time out of His busy day running the world to sit with you and love on you.
I want to encourage you today that no matter how unimportant you may feel or undervalued you may have been by your earthly father, God, your Heavenly father, longs to spend time with you today. So continue to run to Him.