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1 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; 4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? 5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 9 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8 NRSV)
Happy and blessed Thursday, dear Friend! May this find you blessed and joyous. Pray for one another, pray for the needs of the world, pray for your needs, and pray for God to be glorified in your life.
Child suicides are up. Read that again. I hated to type that but I hate to hear that children, for whatever reason, are taking their own lives. What point have they reached at their young age that they have determined that nothing else matters and there is no hope for them. Friends, just yesterday I read about the step ladder for hope in hope that that would impact us with a tool to shape our lives and help us in the shaping of other lives! I was blessed during the camp meeting in having two young men show up with their grandmother, to participate in the worship and fellowship time of this old-days' tradition of camp meeting. Their names were Colt and Kyle and I put them to work two of the three nights. The first night I asked them to hand out LifeSavers candy as a sermon prop. It was a reminder of our task as a Church. The Church exists to save lives! I also shared how Nellie and I were able to visit a megachurch in Corpus Christi during a sabbatical that I was forced to take as a district superintendent. As soon as we walked into their morning worship service we were handed an individually wrapped white LifeSaver candy. The usher told us, as these two young men did that night, not to open nor eat it until I explained what they were for. I told how the church's stage had eleven life rafts on them indicating the number of campuses they had all over the area. That church's mission statement is to get people to Heaven, thus the LifeSaver. The senior pastor of the church told his flock not to eat the candy until the next Sunday when, if they brought a first-time guest with them, could enjoy it with others who did the same thing. I should add that a gentleman that first night did that very thing on Saturday, bringing four new visitors to the camp meeting! I also told the camp meeting guests to open the candy and to know as they savored the flavor that Jewish children learn their alphabet using the letters of their scriptures and they dip them in honey and the lesson is that God's word is sweet and no matter what we face, when we read God's word we should be reminded that the sweetness of that word will see us through. Kyle and Colt enjoyed their role. I also should mention that I told them to keep whatever candy was left over! (Smile).
The third night of the camp meeting I asked them if they were ready to help again, and they smiled and very politely said, "Yes, sir." I called them up and used the roll of Caution tape to hold it down the middle aisle of the tabernacle. I then asked them to secure the line of tape to the ground so that I could use that as a prop. And the prop was that I was preaching about church life and warned the people present that I might say things that might cross the line. I also made it clear to them that if they felt I truly crossed the line they could stand on the line to draw my attention to it, and I also said that I might stand on it myself if I crossed the line. And I did, twice. The last morning of the camp meeting I went and greeted the boys and their grandma and I asked it they were now ready to be preachers. I don't know if they smiled or winced! But they politely said, in unison, "No sir." I warned them not to write God off so quickly and to be careful telling God no, for one never knows what God may have in store for us. The whole time their grandmother was smiling at the way her grandsons were participating in worship. And as I was leaving the camp to come home, Kyle came to me and shook my hand and said, "You done good, sir." Ahh, touched my heart.
Children matter. They are not obstacles or objects; they are persons in need of what all people need, affirmation, affection and attention. And to read this psalm we find that the psalmist knew all about that. And he also discovered he was getting those three from God; affirmation, affection, and attention. He felt overwhelmed during this writing for it is as if he cannot fathom that God loves him so much. He even writes that a strong wall of protection can be made from the "mouths of babes and infants." The enemies of God do not stand a chance against the praises and prayers of the little ones! And from that, he wonders about what we matter in the whole plan of God? Yet, he answers his own question; we are "crowned with glory and honor." We have been given dominion over all of God's works, God's creation, and God's beasts; and all that leads us to declare that God rocks, and God rules!
Use this lesson to start doing what needs to be done among the young. We should affirm them. We should show them affection, and pay them the attention they need. We should use words, actions, and demonstrations to bless them into the fullness of life. Ask God to point them out, and God will!
PRAYER: Loving God, bless and protect the little ones in my life. Grant me the wisdom and the boldness to love and affirm them in the right ways that can lead them to the fullness of life. Be among the children who feel discouraged and lead them to seek assistance before wrong thoughts lead them to wrong actions; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. Seek out the children in God's love and care!
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
