"Jesus loves the little children...all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus love the little children of the world."
Ring a bell?? When I think of the songs I learned as a small child, this one always comes to mind...and oh how true it is, Jesus does love the children of the world, he sure loves His children! Are you a child of God, are you one of His children? Let me ask it another way, a way that the Lord so clearly refreshed in my mind recently. Are you bound for His kingdom, are you bound for His promised land?
I was recently spending cherished times at the beach with my family...actually we were blessed to spend 2 weeks with both families...that doesn't happen often. While at the beach with Chris' family, we encountered many comical, exciting, restful, emotional, and well...just wonderful moments. Oh there were many favorite memories...but one keeps coming up over and over in my mind...so I am going to say this is my favorite memory. The funny thing is, it came out of nowhere, and as fast as it happened, it was over...quick as it might have been, I will never forget it...
William, my 2 and a half year old nephew, was singing favorite hymns with his thoughtful, more talkative, partner in crime...aka, older brother. We were all enjoying sitting around the dinner table and out of the mouths of those two babes came the song "On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand." Not really the hymn I was singing at their age...but non the less they knew it and were singing it. Weston (older brother) was singing it pretty much verse by verse...and William chimed in mostly on the chorus. "I am bound, I am bound, I am bound for the promised land!" However, what was actually coming out of Williams mouth was "BOUND, BOUND, PROMISED LAND"...and it was more of a scream than song...but to William, he was singing about the promised land!
I looked in awe at those two precious boys singing about being bound for God's kingdom and tears actually came to my eyes. I looked at William...food smeared from one end to the other, sticky, loud, banging his fists as he screamed about being bound for an eternity with Jesus and it struck me...yes he is bound for heaven...as are all of us who are in relationship with Christ. He is bound and doesn't even know it yet! As I watched him sing, totally unaware of his audience, I wondered if this is sometimes how God sees even me, his "grown-up" (ha!) child... Does He look at me, covered in all my messiness, with my loud and childish behavior and say "she is mine!"? (Praise God He does!) And to think, just as William is bound and doesn't even know it...I was bound for Heaven before I had any idea of Christ...Jesus loved me, died for me, washed me clean, while I was a sinner!
How precious and gentle the reminder for me that even when I am a mess and have nothing to offer Jesus, I am still His child! I am forever in God's hand, forever God's child, and one day I will rest in that beautiful home and in that promised land!
Only God could use the broken chorus of a little toddler's song to remind me of His love for me and I thank God that He has chosen to save me....this messy, loud, and rebellious child that I am
"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8
"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are."
1 John 3: 1
Here is a link to the song...in case you want to listen and bask in thought of how glorious that day will be!
And here is a face that is squeezable beyond measure...precious William
