Matthew 19:13-15

Matthew 19:13-15 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Loving children isn't always easy -- if you do a cost/benefit analysis, they may come up short.  It requires tremendous sacrifice to love children.  They can be messy and selfish and can bicker, and you don't get days off.  In fact, if you try and take days off, the local police department may have something to say about your choices, especially given that children tend to find their way into danger.  I find myself saying the most absurd things some days as I'm urging my children to make better choices so as not to endanger their physical health.  It's hard to raise them, and it isn't easy, but it's wonderful as well.  They love so purely, so fully, and when they laugh, which is far more often than I do, it's the most perfect sound in the world.  I've learned so much about God's love from the love of my children.
  So Jesus is teaching us about the kind of love we can expect in the kingdom.  Goodness knows that humans aren't always easy to love, but God has chosen to love us.  He wants us to learn from them, so that we might love as fully as they do, as freely as they do.  May we pay attention to the wonder that children have, and may we join with them in their awe of how amazing life is and how joyous it is!