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Come To Jesus

It's not often I can say my days have a theme to them, but today was one of those days. The word for today was 'COME'.

I went to a new (for me) Bible study this morning and the lessons were titled "Come". The first scripture was Mark 10:13-16: "And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, 'Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdoms of God like a child shall not enter it.' And he took them in His arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them." (ESV)

Jesus wants us to come to Him as children, but How do children come?

I am a mom and a Nana of nine and I have spent much time on this earth raising and caring for children. Yes, children come to you with innocence and trust. But the times I always loved was when I walked in a room and one of our little ones would come running with arms up, lopsided grin on their face, and jump in to my arms screaming either 'Mommy' or 'Nana'. The excitement they felt just to be with me made my heart sing.

But here's another thing about children. They don't care what they look like when they come running to jump in your arms. They may be covered in mud or food...or nana's makeup. Let's face it, they may have poopy pants. They don't always smell great or look great, but THEY don't care. Why? Because they know I love and accept them dirt, food, poop, and all.

Guess what? That's exactly how Jesus loves us. Why, oh why, do we think we have to clean ourselves up to come to Him? Because honestly, we can't. Just like a toddler can't effectively bathe or change their own diaper, we can't clean ourselves up without Him, so we may as well just come as we are bringing all our dirt with us.

We sing the Travis Cottrell version of "Just As I Am" at my church that has the following chorus:

"I come broken to be mended, I come wounded to be healed.
I come desp'rate to be rescued, I come empty to be filled.
I come guilty to be pardoned by the blood of Christ the Lamb.
And I'm welcomed with open arms, praise God, just as I am."

I welcome those babies into my arms just as they are. I come to God broken, wounded, desperate, empty, dirty, but I can put on my lopsided grin and run with abandon because no matter how stinky I am He is waiting with open arms to scoop me up and tell me He loves me.

Come to Jesus. It's not hard. You can come just like you are. He's waiting for you with open arms.

Click Here to enjoy the song.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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