Children are a blessing. As parents, we willingly enter into the arrangement, and the truth be told, we do so because it is the reason we came together as a couple. We fall in love and join one another with the thought in mind that there will be a family one day. And then we are blessed with our children.
We learn, very quickly, that parenting is, despite education level, trial and error. We learn instantly that these small beings are completely dependent. I've heard some folks say they decided to get a pet first to get accustomed to a dependent being. Well, I suppose, but most pets come to maturity within a year. Children? You're just getting started.
So, I wonder what the Jews heard when Isaiah told them, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given...."? (9:6) Perhaps they believed this child would eventually become king, much like David. Christ, that child, came in "under the radar." Christ's birth was heralded to shepherds and not announced from the towers of a castle. The angels said, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." A child? (Luke 2:11)
The disciples were in an adult argument. Who, Jesus, will be the greatest among us (in heaven)? Christ, ever the teacher, points to a child and says, "Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:1 - 3) We mistakenly read this and hear, "An innocent child." Listen more carefully, mature adults arguing about the greatest, having learned at the feet of Christ, see a child placed in their midst, which is foreign to them. The child knows nothing. The child has not even begun the learning process. Christ tells us to become like children, meaning dependent, and our dependency is a child-like dependency on Him.
As men, that concept of dependency is completely foreign to our upbringing, but in reality, we are to be dependent on Christ. We thank God for placing this child in our midst to be our savior. We pray we are humble enough to be dependent on Christ in our lives.
Hope Men's Ministry
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