Jesus loves the little children

(Another article I wrote when I was 14, that I found buried on my computer.)

Jesus loves the little children,

All the children of the world.

Red and yellow, black and white

They are precious in His sight,

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

How can Jesus love all the children of the world? When in their development do they become precious in His sight? How do we know He loves them?

Look at His life. A child's background or birthplace never prevented Jesus’ powerful love as He ministered to those in need. Children from Judea were brought to Jesus in Matthew 19:13, and His disciples thought He was too busy to care for them. But His heart was far too big to send them away. Later, in the city of Galilee, a man pleaded with Jesus to bring his twelve year-old daughter back to life (Matthew 9:25). The man was a well-known ruler and well accustomed to power. But yet he came to Jesus, knowing He was the only one who had both the ability and the love to heal a little girl. Jesus' touch revived her heart. Once a Greek Syro-Phoenician woman came and pleaded for her daughter's soul that was controlled by a demon (Mark 7:25). This woman was an outcast, deprived any honor or prestige from birth. And yet Jesus saved her daughter. You see, in Jesus' eyes there is no rank or degree, position, power, or race that will claim His love. He sees past all that into the heart. And that is exactly where He starts His miracles.

We know children were precious to Jesus from the minute of conception by researching Exodus 21: 22-24. In these laws, which follow directly after the Ten Commandments, God gave instruction concerning wounds received during a fight. If a woman with child was hurt during a disagreement between two men, the man who hurt her was physically liable for any damage incurred to her unborn child. Verse 23 reads, "But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life". If you killed an unborn child, though accidental, you owed your life. God values every life He creates - even if it's only minutes old.

We know Jesus loved children, because of the way He treated them. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Mark 9, where we learn the story of Jesus solving a dispute with His disciples by using a little child as an example of humility. I especially love the way Jesus took the child "in His arms," as He taught His followers. Can you imagine being that little child? The one who got to sit in Jesus' lap, to be close enough to hear His heartbeat! To feel those strong arms of love wrapped around your small, fragile body. How secure that must have felt.

If children are precious to Jesus, and we are His followers, how can we claim to be neutral on the issue of abortion? Yes, we can recognize that each situation is different and unique, but also exactly the same. There is a child who deserves life, and a mother who is hurt. Everyone who has an abortion is in someway scarred by the wounds of that decision. Some make the choice out of ignorance - they just don't know better. Perhaps they don't have a caring family, or a trusted friend with open arms. Maybe all that stares them in the face is their failure, and a way to hide it.

Other mothers are aware of what they are doing - they know. They feel their baby kick inside them, wanting to live and move and breathe. But their minds overcome their hearts, and they choose death.

Then there are the few who become pregnant through a nightmare situation, such as rape. But why kill the baby? Has that child committed a crime? Punish the criminal, not the victims. And why are we so certain that God is incapable of resurrecting a tragedy by creating a masterpiece? We should stop placing human limits on an un-human God.

Yet even if we preach the message, some mothers will make abortion their choice. We will wish we could have been a stronger advocate for those beautiful eyes that will never see the light of day, the little hands that never get held, and the tiny heart that stops beating forever.

And we will grieve. Because some things just hurt.

Yet I find comfort - that somewhere, far beyond my own world, a little child comes running to Jesus. He turns when He hears the child's cry. Jesus wipes a tear from His own eye as He thinks of the familiar pain of rejection.

Then He opens up His arms, and gathers the child so close he can hear Jesus' heartbeat.

And that child knows beyond a shadow of a doubt - Jesus loves the little children.