We Are to Become Like a Child

When I was pastor in Martinsville, we started a day care in the church building which grew and grew. When the children were disruptive or did something they weren’t supposed to, the staff would often bring them to me. I would take them to the sanctuary and show them a stained-glass window of Jesus holding a child and talking to a group of children. This window was portraying what Jesus said in Luke 18:16, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

In Israel, children were loved but not thought highly of until they reached a certain age. At this age they could contribute to the home and enter the synagogue. Today’s scripture from Luke turns the perceptions of Jesus’ disciples upside down. The disciples didn’t think children were important or worthy of Jesus’ attention. Jesus tells His disciples that children are not only important but that they, the disciples, must become like children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus shattered the standards of His day by welcoming the poor, the sick and even children. Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell of parents bringing their little children to Jesus so He could lay hands on them. Matthew 19:13 describes Jesus laying hands on the children and praying for them.

The disciples told the adults who brought children that they were an inconvenience. Mark 10:14 says Jesus was “indignant” and opened His arms to the children. Jesus challenges us all to become like children. Luke 18:17 emphasizes how important it is for us all to feel a need to know Jesus. It’s this childlike need that makes us “big” enough to receive His love.

Prayer – Father, teach me to become like a child, so that I can draw closer to Your heart. Amen.

Luke 18:16 – “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

By the Rev. Tommy Herndon

Images: Ben Wicks, Josh Applegate & Limor Zellermayer, courtesy of Unsplash