The Joy of Children

Isn't it amazing the sheer joy and the unbounded energy that is contained in the heart of a child!  What a blessing!  Our church has recently enjoyed an increase in the number of young families with children that are attending our services.  There is an added level of excitement that comes with children running around your feet.  We have a tendency as we get older to lose that and it is a shame.  While the Bible encourages us to grow up in the things of the Lord, there are some qualities of a child's nature that we should try to hang on to.  The first of these is the sheer joy of being alive.  A child hasn't been beaten down by the trials of life, so they can often look at life from a much brighter perspective.  That little four-year-old doesn't know enough about the dangers of our world to spend his time worrying.  As a result, he is just thankful for being alive and his thankful heart is expressed in sheer joy.  Secondly, a child is full of energy, continually wanting to run a little faster to get on to the next thing.  One of the difficulties of old age is that our bodies start to slow down and it is harder to go where we need to go.  We have to overcome aches and pains in order to accomplish what we need to accomplish.  A child will run hard all day and then fall dead asleep the minute his head hits the pillow because his mind is free of the worries of this life.  Our tendency is to worry so much during the day that we can't shut it off when we go to bed at night and we toss and turn, struggling for the rest that we so desparately need. Finally, a child is trusting.  He just trusts his parents to take care of things and spends his time learning and playing and growing.  It may be that we need to trust our Father just a little more with the dangers of this old world and we might be able to look at life more joyfully.
As a Pastor, there is nothing that I enjoy more than having one of these children see me and run up and give me a big hug.  I hope that just a little of that joy and energy and ability to trust God will rub off on me.  Now if you will excuse me, I think I'm going to go out to the playground and swing for just a few minutes. :0)