They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” “Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’” Matthew 21:16
It was a priceless moment. You might remember the MasterCard commercial that starts with a special moment in life and the ending tag line is something like, “for everything else there is Mastercard.” You also might remember the old Kodak commercials that coined the phrase, “Kodak moment.” When cameras were finally affordable and easier to use, more and more people were able to save their “Kodak” memories. Well, this one wasn’t recorded on file, but it lives in my heart.
Three of my grandsons were spending the night with my wife Judy and I one Saturday night. I passed by the open bedroom door and there were the three boys with their Mamaw. She had a Bible story app open and each of the grandsons would pick a story and they would listen to it. Well, I went into the room and plopped down on one of the two double beds and soon Will, the middle of the three, plopped down beside me. Before I knew it, we were having this really cool God discussion.
We talked about this, and we talked about that. I mentioned the Bible character named Abraham and Will wanted to know was his name Lincoln. I assured him this was a different guy. Well before long we had moved on to Jesus and I explained that He was in fact God. Well, Will knew about Mary and Joseph, and he was a bit confused. He wanted to know, and this is excellent, how two people could have a baby that was God. Now Will, in fact all three of this bunch, are as sharp as tacks. So, I wasn’t too surprised.
Before I could respond, he said this, “So isn’t that kinda like two lizards have a cat?” Boom. I loved it. What a great analogy. He figured out that two normal everyday people could not conceive a God. And this is one of those times I’m glad I had an answer for him. I told him, “Well, Will that is absolutely correct. But the deal is there weren’t two lizards.” I then explained to him how Jesus had a regular human mother but in fact Joseph wasn’t Jesus’ real dad. We talked about how some people have a stepdad because of a divorce or something. He said, “Or if the real dad dies.” Spot on, Will.
And then I explained how Jesus’ real Father was the Heavenly Father. How, miraculously God caused her to become pregnant and the Child would be like no other…literally the God Man. And the really cool part is that He seemed to get it. Like I said it was definitely a spiritual Kodak moment. The Bible talks about how sometimes out of the mouths of the young come truth and praise and this was one of those times.
The Bible also talks about how it is important that we have the same kind of faith that children do. They rarely have all the answers, and they don’t always fully understand and yet they trust. They simply take some things at face value. I’m sure that Will didn’t under that night all there is to know about the Virgin birth of Christ. In fact, I’m not sure I can fully grasp it, but you can take this to the bank…I believe.
So, as you journey along, and you bump into God stuff, you will find some things that make sense and some that simply do not. You will find some truth that you just can’t get your head around, but don’t let that stop you from believing. Sometimes with spiritual truth, 1 + 1 doesn’t add up to two. It is then you just trust. When you wonder how two lizards can have a cat…you gotta believe that maybe one of them is a whole lot more than a lizard. Smile. I still love that. After all, I don’t fully understand how the sun rises so precisely every day but that doesn’t stop me from believing. I just know this. No matter what…He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 