This morning, I got down on the floor and played with Lincoln Logs for the first time my life.  We got them for our daughters for Christmas, and my youngest daughter wanted me to show her how to put them together.  In no time, I got lost in the process of building the perfect log cabin with her.  I think there’s something beautiful that was going on with that.

A lot of parents talk about the way that parenthood makes them see life through the eyes of their children.  But here’s what else it can do: It can actually make you childlike.  When you get down on the floor and play with Legos or baby dolls or GI Joes, the next thing you know, you start to become part of their make-believe world.  I think those moments are some of our finest as parents.  They’re a picture of Jesus.

Jesus came down here.  He let Himself get invested in our daily needs and concerns.  He subjected Himself to our wants and weakness and mortality.  He did it because, beating inside His chest was the heart of a Dad — our Dad — who was willing to do whatever it took to find us.

Philip Yancey says:

In my lifelong study of the Bible I have looked for an overarching theme, a summary statement of what the whole sprawling book is about.  I have settled on this: “God gets his family back.”  From the first book to the last the Bible tells of the tortuous lengths to which God will go to reclaim wayward children.  Many of Jesus’ stories center on the theme of lostness, captured most beautifully in the story of the prodigal son: “this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”  In Revelation the entire biblical drama ends with a huge family reunion.  The lost will be found.

If you feel alienated from God, if you think you’re too far gone, if you feel like you’ve failed too many times, don’t give up on yourself, because Jesus hasn’t given up on you.  He will get down on the floor of your chaotic life and bring order to it; He will help you make something beautiful of the mess.  He was willing to become a child to get you back, and He’s just as willing to meet you wherever you are today.

If you’d like an email with a weekly recap of what I’ve written, click here.  You can also keep up with my latest articles (and more) on Facebook or Twitter.