Tuesday 15 Apr 2014

April 15: Luke 18:15-17

Key Verse: Luke 18:16
But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.

Devotion:
We live in a world where children also get sick. Sounds like a bit of a strange thing to say, but let us not forget that this is a world where we all started out as children who grow up into adults (time and health permitting). Jesus may have had His ministry to reach out to the adults at that time and get enough people back into line with the Gospel so that they could reach out to children, but He did not ignore the children.

The disciples obviously had an upbringing where children were to be seen not heard (I can hear my grandmother saying those words right now) and they reacted when the children came forward; whether they came with the normal noise and kerfuffle that children come with is not said, but would not surprise me. Children have not grown up yet, that is why they are called children and not adults, so they need to be treated as children and not adults. We can introduce them to the ways of adults and encourage them to follow those ways as they learn, but they have to start out as children.

Christ’s heart went out to those children and He asked that they be brought to Him so that He could meet them and they could meet Him as well as demonstrate His love by healing them. The adults cared for their children and so brought them forward for healing and blessing. We should be doing the same for people who are still children in Christ. If we know people who have not yet met Christ or who still have a lot to learn, then we should be bringing them forward to meet with Christ as often as possible just like these parents did for their children.

Children have open minds to most things and will pick up and learn a lot quicker than others who have made up their minds to ignore certain things in life already. In the same manner people new to Christ will learn quicker than those who have already made up their minds to do things their own way. Christ wants us to come to Him with open minds and open hearts so that we can learn the truth as He tells us and not as others do.

Points to Ponder:
Did you enjoy your early years in school?

Are you enjoying learning about Christ?