Children

Read:

Mark 10:13-16

Reflect:

There are two things that stand out for me in today’s passage. The first is how Jesus welcomes the children. He does not welcome them because of their eloquent prayers, their offerings of worship, their deep and generous pockets or their holy living and fruitfulness. No. He welcomes the little children as they are. And to such as these, Jesus says, belongs the kingdom of heaven. We can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence (Heb 4:16), like a child would, with no pretence.

The second is how we (adults) can have an impact on the lives of children. A study at Johns Hopkins University in the 1960’s found that the top five fears of children then were: 1) Animals, 2) Being in a dark room, 3) High places, 4) Strangers, 5) Loud noises. In the 1990’s this changed to 1) Divorce, 2) Nuclear war, 3) Cancer, 4) Pollution, 5) Being mugged. I don’t think things have changed for the better since then. We must be conscious of the world we’re creating for our children to live in today. Children are important to God, so they have to be important to us.

Respond:

Lord Jesus, thank you that you welcome us openly when we come to you as children would. Thank you for their example of trust and sincerity. Please help our children and young people to know your peace, and show me what I can do to create for them a better world. Amen.

Remind:

“Train up a child in the way he should go - but be sure you go that way yourself.”

~Charles Spurgeon~

Photo by Larm Rmah on Unsplash