Shine On!

"Jesus loves the little children,

all the children of the world"

 

It was a little chorus we sang in Sunday School remind us of the fact children were very important to Jesus.  Reading through the Gospel accounts, you will also find it is something we see verified in God's Word repeatedly.  Matthew, Mark and Luke all recorded the story of Jesus spending time with children and when His disciples tried to send them away, Jesus reminded them of an important fact:

 

"Let the little children come to me,

and do not hinder them,

for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."

 

You can find the full record of these encounters with children in Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 10:13-16 and Luke 18:15-17.

 

Tonight we opened up the doors of Crosby Assembly of God to the children of our community and their families for our annual Fall Fun Night.  It is something we have been doing since 1996 and it is fun to see young mothers bringing their little ones who at one time attended as children themselves. 

 

Yes, children were important to Jesus, and they are important to us, too.  Not only did we have an evening of fun and games, but we also took time to tell them about Jesus being the light in a darkened world.  Our pastor used carved pumpkins to illustrate how being a Christian is much like a pumpkin at Halloween. 

 

God picks us up out of the world, and washes us clean.  When we open our lives to Him, He removes all the "yucky stuff", things such as seeds of fear, doubt, hate and greed.
Then He carves us a new smiling face and puts His light inside to shine for all the world to see.

 

It was indeed a fun night.  Smiles were everywhere and the love of God was present.  Lots of little lives were touched, and perhaps a few big ones, too.  And the light of Jesus shines on!