Come unto me

But Jesus said, “suffer little children, but forbid them not, to come unto me, for such is the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 19:14

March 15, 2015 

NOTE: This week’s comment is for some very special people in my life that have had to fight for their very existence. Perils paralleling those that befell Job have attempted to crush the very life out of them. They are; each and every one; Children of our Heavenly Father. He loves them and I love them. For any who have been in the depth of the murky darkness of despair, depression, doubt, fear, mistrust, and contempt, you will understand the blessing and relief of coming out of the darkness. Share your love with any around you that are under this dismal torture.

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My moments of pure delight come as occasion permits for me to associate with children. This week we visited, as messengers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, on two separate occasions and both provided me with the opportunity to share my thoughts about God and love. On both occasions their parents were present as I asked the children what they thought about a man called the Brother of Jared who had a big problem with light and had asked God for a very specific answer to his prayers. I told them about his dilemma in not having any way to light the way in dark boats on a very long journey. They didn’t justify, deny, condemn, or squander the opportunity to understand how God answers prayers. They are the little children after which God patterned (in spirit and love) the kingdom of God. This concept is so easy to understand when we are little children; then, we grow up and see evil things which should never happen. We have an innate need to blame someone or something, so we blame God.

We decide we need to get back at God and do more evil, or just dumb things like,. . . well you know the list. We don’t feel better, we just feel more confused and lost because the earthly idols we chased after do nothing for us. My dear departed sister, Lynda, used to say the that she was a “dry alcoholic”, meaning that she didn’t drink alcohol but substituted other additions. The smoking doesn’t satisfy anything, the alcohol is so temporary and at such a high cost, financially and to our associates. We do even dumber things because we simply have no idea what else to do. We put ink in our skill, piercings in our bodies, more drugs in our bodies and end up empty shells on the side of the road. Satan is ecstatic. God still loves us. The cravings are still there and we continue down the spiral once described as slowly winding ourselves down to hell.

There is an answer. God has shared in James 1:5 that if we lack wisdom we need to ask God and it shall be given him; however, there is a caveat that simply notes we must ask in faith, nothing wavering. That doesn’t mean we have to have a perfect knowledge, it simply means we need to look to our Father in Heaven for answers. For us muscle heads who still want to play all the other cards before we turn to God, the plan is very simple. Back to my story about the Brother of Jared and his need to light the eight boats that would take them across the dark and deep waters to a new land and God tells us exactly how to do it. Try God. Make a plan. Work it out in detail; then go for it. During your planning and execution phase you can tell God what your plan is and how you plan on working through to completion. Tell God you are still very suspicious of his motives (even his existence) if you need to, but tell him that you are going to, let’s say, go to Church, walk three miles, a day, and eat wholesome foods. Simple things like that will get you started. Keep the goodies like smoking and drinking until later when you have begun to feel the spirit of the Holy Ghost and good things begin to happen.

The brother of Jared got his answers. He got the physical and spiritual light he needed to assist his people as they crossed the ocean to a new life. Go back in your mind to the children. They love, giggle, play, fight, pray, argue, and understand because they have the Spirit of God in their very essence.

Thank you all for the blessings you bring to my life.

Duane Jacobs, husband, father, grandfather, uncle, brother, cousin, and friend

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