Did you Ever Pet A Frog?

The disciples approached Jesus and said,                                                      
“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. 
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones is lost.”


Just think how hard it was for Jesus living in a land where He was always being put under the microscope by men who professed to love God but had no need to know God because they had the law.  For these stone hearted men, the law was God. Their religion was fixed on externals.  If the outside of the jar was clean, well, that's all that mattered to them, it appeared to be clean and appearances were everything.

How refreshing it must have been for Him to be surrounded by kids who knew no guile, who looked at the gentle Jesus as a friend. Their souls were an open book. They were as needy as the adults that were rearing them but they also had open hearts and a spirit of innocence that would accept what they were told.  They knew that if you touched the rear of a frog that it would jump.  For them, this was real knowledge and they accepted it without question. When Jesus spoke to them, they listened and they absorbed what they could from Him and they stored this knowledge along with everything that you needed to know about jumping frogs. They would apply the principles when they remembered them in simple ways.  Maybe they might not push another child away from a toy or perhaps they would remember what Jesus said and say, "I'm sorry" when they did something to offend and of course they would make the frog jump and they would run off giggling and laughing.  

How very different the children were from their stern and law-abiding parents. Some would stumble over a beggar, cursing them out, on their way to the temple.  Others would debate the law endlessly and shake their heads at those who were not as observant as they were. It was a heavy atmosphere that these overly observant men lived in and it did not glorify God as they did not know who God was except through the Law. 

Jesus tells us to respond to the promptings of God as a child does. Yes, do what we can to obey the principles that He teaches us but, do so with joy and look for ways to help your neighbor, not judge him. And by all means, make the frog jump when he gives you the chance and look on in wonder and awe at how far he went with just one step!

Remember the poor souls today.  They need your prayers.