hold a baby

Mark 9:  ³⁶He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."  Children are of no earthly good! This from a man who has eight.  When they are babies, they keep you up at night, they spit up only on your good clothes, they cost a lot more than you ever dreamed of, they deposit bodily fluids on clothes, furniture, beds, bosses and relatives, and in doing so, sometimes they stink to high heaven, and they keep you from doing what you want, when you want.  When they get older, some things may change, but the cost and aggravation only seem to steadily increase.  Knowing that, as the people shake hands when they leave church, I will grab the first baby I can to hold for a while, and the strongest man in the world will be reduced to cooing and baby talk in a matter of seconds in their presence.  They are in this world to be loved, unconditionally loved, and in their innocence, they elicit from each of us, all the feelings of love we can muster.  Unless you become like one of these, innocent, loving, trusting, and drawing love from others they didn’t even know they had, kind of childlike followers of Christ you don’t quite get the kingdom of God.  But every once in a while, when you hold a baby, you get a glimpse.