Little Stories

This is my favorite story to start with children. I want to make them fall in love with Him, so I show them that He loves them. My kids seem to respond to adults that show them they care so I think it will touch other children as well. Each time it goes a little differently. I review the story from the Bible to be sure I don’t change the important details. I also make it very simple for little children, and if there are bigger kids in the listening audience, I raise the level a bit.

One day, Jesus had been working really hard. He had made sick people feel better, He had taught people about God, He had walked a lot, and He was tired. His friends that were with him saw that he needed to rest and were glad when he sat down. Then some people came up towards him. They probably thought that some more sick people were coming to him or some important grownups had come to ask a question. Then they realized that it was some mothers who were bringing their little kids to Jesus. They came up saying, "Wait, wait! Don’t bring your little kids to Jesus. He is very important and very tired! He is too tired to hang around little kids. Go away. Come again when he is not tired or go where you can listen to him later, not now!"

They weren’t mean men. I’m sure they like children also, but at that moment they just wanted Jesus to rest. Do you know what happened next? Do you think the children and their mothers left? Well, Jesus heard them saying that, and He said, "Wait! Don’t send those children away. In fact, you help them get closer to me." He then took the children up on his lap and blessed them, and I’m sure He prayed for them that they would know how much God loved them. You see, Jesus really LOVES children and wants the very best for them. After he had talked to each child, the mamas took their little kids back to their homes. Everyone was happy. In fact, Jesus taught his friends that they could learn a lot from those little kids — because God loves how children are.

Un día, Jesús había trabajado mucho. Él sanaba a los enfermos, hablaba mucho acerca de Dios a la gente, caminaba mucho en el calor también, y estaba muy cansado. Sus amigos que estaban con Él vieron que Él necesitaba descansar y se pusieron contentos porque Él se sentó para descansar. Después vinieron unas personas hacia Él. Sus amigos quizás pensaron que eran más gente enfermos, ó algunas personas grandes É importantes para hacerle unas preguntas. Pero después se dieron cuenta que eran madres trayendo sus niños a Jesús. Sus amigos vinieron entonces a las madres y les dijeron “esperen, no molesten a Jesús. ¡Él es muy importante y está muy cansado! Él está demasiado cansado para estar con los niños. Váyanse. Váyanse a sus hogares y pueden venir otro día para escucharlo.

No eran hombres malos. No era que no querían a los niños, sino que sabían que Jesús necesitaba descansar. Chicos, ¿saben que pasaba después? ¿Les parece que las madres salieron? No, porque Jesús escuchó lo que decían y él vino y dijo: “Esperen. No manden a los niños a sus hogares. Déjenlos venir a mí. Aun, permítanlos, y ayúdenlos venir a mí.” Y los abrazó y los bendijó a cada uno. ¡Porque a Jesús le importa a los niños y le importa que ellos sepan que Dios los ama y los cuida! DespuÉs, las mamás los llevaron a sus casas, contentas porque a Jesús le importa a todos — a los niños, a las madres, a los hombres, a los pobres, a los enfermos, a todos. Y aun Él enseñaba a sus amigos acerca de Dios — diciÉndoles que Dios ama la manera de ser de los niños.