I had a strange dream the other night. The details are hazy now, but for some reason, someone was telling me not to get too close to Jesus. "Back away from him," they said.
I woke up thinking about the times when the disciples tried to keep people away from Jesus. Jesus is an important guy! He doesn't have time for little children to come to him.
But they were wrong.
Jesus smiled and said, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children." (Matthew 19:14, NLT)
In Luke 18, a blind beggar shouts at Jesus to show him mercy. The crowd shushes him. Stop embarrassing yourself, they say. But this guy remains shameless. He cries even louder, and Jesus hears him.
I'm not an interpreter of dreams, but you know what I think? I think the person in my dream—the one telling me to stay away from Jesus—was me.
I know that's some Inception-like stuff, but so often, I'm the one telling myself to back away from Jesus. I shouldn't bother bringing him my troubles because there are so many bigger problems in the world. Besides, I'm the one who made my mess. Shouldn't I have to clean it up myself?
I've only been a dad for three weeks, but that's long enough to know children can't clean up their own messes. They shamelessly cry out until someone helps them.
I pray to have the freedom those children had when they ran with open arms to Jesus. I pray for the boldness of the blind man, whose need for Jesus rose above his need not to appear desperate.
Today, I pray we won't let our mess keep us from Jesus. I pray we won't let our insignificance keep us from Jesus. I pray we won't let ourselves keep us from Jesus.
There are no suited bodyguards or cranky disciples keeping us from Jesus. We don't have to pull ourselves together first.
Jesus always took the time to stop when someone called out to him.