Matt 18: 1 ¶ At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying,
Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
Well, after almost 15 years serving in some capacity in children’ ministry, I could make this into a long teaching, but I will not.
Here are a couple of thoughts, in no particular order:
1.We are to be childlike, not childish. What this means to me, is that we should never lose our sense of childlike awe, wonder, joy, inquisitiveness, gratefulness, generosity, and love towards God. We should quickly lose our temper tantrums, selfishness, cynicism, hardness, sarcasm, and belligerent ways. Enough said. Childlike, not childish.
2. We are to treat children in the fear of the Lord. Children are gifts from heaven, and they have guardian angels that watch over them, and report back to heaven on their treatment. God has placed eternal worth in the heart of every child, and there are eternal consequences upon any person foolish enough to mistreat or abuse a child.
3. God wants each and every child given as a gift into the earth, to meet and receive Jesus, as their personal Savior, that they may become eternally saved.
Dr. Dan Brewster from Compassion international, has written a tremendous article on world missions. Many of us understand, that most of the people on planet earth, who have never heard the good news of Jesus and eternal life, live in what is now known as the 10/40 window. He then describes the 4/14 window, which is the age bracket from which 85% of people generally make their decisions to follow Jesus. Seems the greatest mission field on the earth, is to children aged between 4 and 14.
http://www.compassion.com/multimedia/The%204_14%20Window.pd
Seems, if you honestly want to be on the cutting edge of where Jesus is moving the most powerfully in earth, you will fall in love with children, and will reach them for Jesus….
Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
(Jesus. Mark 10:14)
Let’s Pray:
“Father, I see the need to cry out, to serve, to make a way for children, to come to, to know Jesus. Father use me in this, show me how, where, and what You want me to do, to love, minister to, and to alleviate the suffering of, Your children in the earth, in Your name I pray Lord Jesus, Amen!”
