Always and Never

They were running through the crowd. The sun shown in his eyes, momentarily blinding him, but he didn't care. None of them cared.

He was so excited.

"Wait up, son!"

He whirled around, and saw his mother and father pushing through the crowd. A swarm of parents walked behind them. They were all coming to see Jesus.

And he was so excited!

He ran over and grabbed his mother's hand. "Look! That's Jesus! That's Jesus!"

His father smiled. "Well, let's go meet him."

The walked towards Jesus. He was sitting on a rock, talking to a small cluster of people. They were almost there, when a tall man stepped directly in front of them. The tall man crossed his arms over his chest, and a scowl marked his face. "You can't go there."

Why? He looked at his mom before looking back to the mean man. "We want to see Jesus!"

The man ignored them. His father tired to reason with the tall man, but he wouldn't budge.

A hand clapped the tall man's shoulder. It was Jesus! He gave the mean man a stern look. "Let the children come to me."

Jesus to the rescue! His little heart started to pound. Jesus was right there!

"But sir!"

"Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."

"Yippe!" He walloped and jumped right into Jesus' arms.

Based on Mark 10:13-14

"Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me." Psalm 66:20

My soul latched onto these words because no matter who else did, my God hadn't rejected me. My God still loved me.

"As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter  2:4-5

I don't know a single person who hasn't been rejected by mankind in some form or another. I know no one who has been rejected by God. You need to know, that you are precious and chosen in God's eyes. The world may see you and think, "Eh, only okay," "She's lame," "Wow he's annoying. He's so not right for this," or "That person is just not worth the air they breathe," but do you know what God thinks when He sees you?

"That one is mine. Chosen. Precious. Mine."

As difficult as their words and opinions can be to hear, they don't matter. The only words that matter are God's. He's set you up as a royal priesthood, fit to offer sacrifices.

I don't know how much you know about Israelite history, but in the Old Testament, only the tribe of Levi was authorized to do "Temple" work. Within the tribe of Levi, only the sons of Aaron were allowed to offer sacrifices to the Lord.

Now it's many years later, and we are under the new and improved covenant, where Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice, but we still offer sacrifices to God all the time. Praise, time, our lives for instance, but the cool thing is that we are allowed to do that. God has not rejected or prohibited us from offering spiritual sacrifices to Him. In fact, it's a must for our spiritual growth. We are so blessed to live in this time because we can go before God like that. He put us in this time for a reason, and He specifically gave us direct access to Him! That is how much God wants you!

The world will do what it wants. People will do what they want. Even Christians can wound the soul and remove their approval. But God has never and will never reject you. His steadfast love is always on you.

V. Joy Palmer