Beautiful innocence.

^"2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. ³ And he said:“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

    ⁶ “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." 

{Matthew 18:2-6}

^”15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 

{Mark 10:15}

As I was watching "Lost" (the kid's choir production) tonight, I couldn't help but smile at the beautiful faith of these children. Here they are singing, dancing, rapping, signing, and acting to share the gospel, and they are so full of joy! Every single one of them is a little light, burning brightly for our Father. Sometimes it's easy to listen to children's songs and simply say, "Awww. They're so cute." But if you take a moment to actually listen to what they're saying, the message is so important, no matter how simple it may be... "Everything's okay and everything's alright, 'cause I got Jesus in my life!" How often could we use that reminder? For me, it's often, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Probably one of the most impacting songs to hear them sing, though, was Amazing Grace. These kids are just so young and innocent, and to hear them sing "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me" really struck me. I could never look at a child and consider him or her a wretch. That's not the point of the song, I realize, but these kids have an understanding (or are learning) that we are born with sin, that Jesus died for us because of our sin, and that His grace is a precious gift. I can't think of another word to describe that other than beautiful. The show was beautiful, the kids were beautiful, and their worship was beautiful. Twas a lovely thing indeed :)

^"6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, 
   each of us has turned to our own way; 
and the LORD has laid on him 
   the iniquity of us all."

{Isaiah 53:6}

Goodnight my precious loves; sleep well :)