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From My Window on the World
by Mike Jacks
It was a small incident, in a small church in a small town. It is a strange fact of life that God sometimes uses the littlest things to teach the biggest lessons. This was never more evident than in a recent church service I attended. It is not my habit to look over the congregation while our minister is speaking. Yet this past Sunday something special caught my eye. It is general knowledge that the average person wants to sit in the front of the bus, the back of the church, and the middle of the road. In my view was now something that shattered that rule. In front of me sat two of the prettiest little girls that I had ever seen. However, it was not their beauty but their performance that attracted me. Our minister was speaking about Jesus telling his followers that they must become like little children in order to inherit the kingdom of God. Behind him on a large screen was a picture of children with relevant scriptures to illustrate certain spiritual aspects. The five year old girls listened intently. They sifted through Bibles that were at least half as big as they were as if they were trying to look up the various verses. They sat on either side of their mother. Their grandparents were there on the front row with them. What a beautiful picture it was as all 5 of them listened as a family to the words of life. That one moment spoke more eloquently of the purity of the Christian experience than all of the sermons ever preached. What a blessing it was to see those little children with a family that knew the true priorities of life.
Their actions shed light on a dirty little secret that none of us want to acknowledge. We spend a lot of time pushing program after program and activity after activity, everything and anything to help. Yet all of these things aren’t enough. Our kids are worn out with activity. The answer is not filling their lives with more things to do, but filling their lives with more Jesus. This is where Dad and Mom come in. Children need to have Dad and Mom sitting with them in church on Sunday, not sitting in some sports arena. They need to sing praises to Jesus and read his word as a family. If a parent’s example puts Jesus last when a child is 5, they shouldn’t wonder why when the kid becomes a teenager that he won’t put Jesus first. None of us want to deal with that bitter truth. If your child doesn’t see the love of Jesus in you, they aren’t going to learn it anywhere else.
Those two little girls will never truly realize how blessed they are. They have a father who obviously loves them and works hard to provide for their physical needs. He also sits in church with them every Sunday. They have a mother who adores them and gives pure love. She sits in church with them every Sunday. They have doting grandparents who would die for them. And they sit with them in church every Sunday. Do you see a pattern here? Those children have the most beautiful gift of all. They are loved and they have a family that truly cares about what is of utmost importance! They have set an example that will affect those little girls throughout eternity. The example of that family encourages us. Those two little girls are a blessing. They never knew it, but they taught me a lesson. If you let them, maybe they can teach you one, too.
Mike lived in Jamestown, Ohio with his wife, Zane, and their children, Lindsay (23) and Kirk (20). Mike and his family were founding members of Transformation Christian Church, a newly formed simple church.
Mike went home to be with the Lord on February 1, 2017
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