一天下午，我在一間咖啡館裡，一對父母帶著一個不到兩歲的小女孩坐在我隔壁桌。當這對父母與朋友聊天時，一隻鴿子飛進來，啄食地板上的麵包屑。小女孩看見這一幕，驚奇萬分，興奮地尖叫，想引起大人的注意。但她的父母並沒有注意到她所看見的，只是對她微微一笑，便又轉過頭繼續他們的談話。

路加福音記載，耶穌差派門徒出去傳福音，結果非常成功（10章17節）。耶穌便讚美天父：「祢把這些事向智慧和聰明的人隱藏起來，卻向嬰孩顯明」（21節，新譯本）。這裡說的「嬰孩」不是指年齡，而是指身分地位。那些謙卑、平凡的「罪人」願意接受福音，但那些所謂有「智慧和聰明」的宗教領袖，反倒無視福音真理（7章29-34節）。雖然，天父決定要向誰啟示祂自己，但耶穌總是會對那些真心尋求的人，進一步解釋天國的奧祕（見馬太福音13章36節）。那些宗教領袖看不出耶穌是誰，是因為他們根本不想知道。

咖啡館裡的那個小女孩看見了令她驚奇的景象，而她的父母卻錯過了。願我們永遠不要因世俗的喧嚷而分心，也不要因驕傲而不肯尋求和明白真理，以致錯失了上帝要讓我們認識祂的機會。

In a café one afternoon, I noticed a toddler with her parents at an adjacent table. As the parents talked with their friends, a pigeon flew in and started pecking crumbs from the floor. Filled with awe at this sight, the little girl tried getting the adults’ attention by squealing with delight. But they never got to see what she saw. They just smiled at her and returned to their conversation.

Jesus once sent His disciples on a preaching mission, which turned out to be tremendously successful (Luke 10:17). “I praise you, Father,” Jesus prayed in response, “because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (v. 21). In this case, “little children” didn’t refer to age but status. It was humble, everyday “sinners” who responded to the gospel, while “wise and learned” religious leaders ignored it (7:29-34). While God decides who He reveals Himself to, Jesus always explained more about the kingdom to those who asked (see Matthew 13:36). The leaders had missed seeing who Jesus was because they didn’t really want to know.

The little girl in the café saw something wonderful while her parents missed out. May we never be so distracted by the world’s chatter, or lacking in humility to seek more understanding, that we miss what God wants to show us about Himself.