June 9
8Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:8, The Jesus Bible)
Blessed morning to you all. As I mentioned yesterday, I have had the privilege to volunteer in my local church’s “Kid’s Camp”, their version of “Vacation Bible School”, for Kindergarten-through-Fifth-Graders. It brought back many fond memories (the few that I can recall) of the fun I had attending a VBS when I was younger (more on that tomorrow).
Each day I have been a greeter at the door in the morning, before being tasked out with whatever other job they need done. Because I was not able to volunteer Monday and Tuesday, I was unable to serve as a Small Group Leader. These classroom leaders seem like they are having an amazing time getting these kids fired up for Jesus. Every morning they march from their classrooms to the main sanctuary chanting their group names and colors. But back to being a door greeter.
Mrs. Z and I have been serving for the last three years. We have had three different groups of kiddos come through our Sunday School classes. As I was holding the door for the hundreds of kids coming through on Wednesday, I thought to myself: “man it would be cool if one of my small group kids recognized me”. Well, several did. I got a big hug from one little girl that lived down the street from our old house. I got some high-fives from the boys I poured into and it made me think how rewarding it must be for teachers to see these young children grow and thrive in the world.
Well, for all the recognition I was hoping to receive from these kids, the most rewarding moment of camp thus far came on Wednesday, as I was keeping a watchful eye on the perimeter of the “Water Day”. As I was scanning, a little waving arm caught my eye. When I saw who was trying to get my attention, my heart and soul smiled the biggest it had in quite some time.
There at the edge of this massive water slide was MY son, waving at me. He had seen me while standing in line and he was trying to get my attention. Again, seeing him made my heart smile, and I waved back with an equally big smile on my face. When he saw me acknowledge him, he grabbed his buddy’s arm and pointed toward me, and then I was waving at the two of them. I could just imagine he had told his little friend, “hey look, there’s my Dad.”
Sometimes in life, we feel like my son did. We are down here, doing all we can, being faithful servants, waving to our Father in Heaven, just hoping for that same acknowledgement, just hoping to feel God’s presence, His blessing to let us know “I see you my beautiful children”. But let’s be honest. It is God that’s doing the waving trying to get OUR attention. For some of us, because we want to live our lives the way we see fit, entrenched in sin and selfishness, that when we remember that God is all around us, waving at us to get our attention, we feel such shame and disappointment that we turn from God with the mentality that God can never forgive us. He would never love us for all the wrongs we have done. But that is not who God is. In fact, God’s love for us is greater than how much Jesus loves us, and Jesus loves us SO MUCH it cannot be quantified. Ephesians 3:18 states the love of Jesus “surpasses knowledge” and it is hard to “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ”.
God and Jesus are waving at us from Heaven. They want us to see them as they see us. They want us to love them as they love us. Don’t get so caught up in the thrill of a different ride to forget that the greatest thrill is the hope of heaven. The hope that when we exit this side of existence, we will be wrapped in the loving arms of Jesus and hear Him speak these words, “I saw you my son/daughter. I never took my eyes off of you. Welcome home, my good and faithful servant.”
Common Sense Reborn 