October 21 - Luke 18:9-14, Mark 10:1-12, Matthew 19:1-12, Mark 10:13-16, Mathew 19:13-15, Luke 18:15-17, Mark 10:17-31, Matthew 19:16-30, Luke 18:18-30

Good morning everyone,

Today, in our reading, we began with the Pharisees, yet again, trying to trip Jesus up with questions that were meant to back Him into a corner. This one; “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” Citing, Moses permitted it, it had become rather common for a man to divorce his wife, replacing her with a new and younger model for reasons as ridiculous as her burning the dinner, or something equally as trivial. Jesus told them that because their hearts were so hard, Moses did indeed write that law, however, He went on to say, “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Thus making God’s intentions for marriage quite clear.

We also took a look at how when Jesus saw the disciples rebuking the people for bringing their small children Him, Jesus stepped in and told them to let the little children go to him stating that the kingdom of God belonged to such as they. In Matthew 18 Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

What does that mean exactly? Well, first, to enter the kingdom of heaven we need to change our mindset and think like children think. Not that we become immature and act childish in the traditional sense, but that we accept things in simplicity. Children have a way of believing everything you say and believing it as fact. They don’t worry about where the next meal is coming from, where they will be sleeping at night, the clothes on their backs, they trust that it will be there. It's only when we grow up that we tend to question everything.

Also, the humility of children is very evident. It's a beautiful thing to watch. Although they may compete with each other in games and such, the humility they have without even knowing it is crazy humbling! In Jewish culture children were thought of as insignificant until they were 12. Jesus often tells us to go lower if we want to be higher. Our humility in His eyes equals in direct proportion to how He exalts us. Make sense? Over and over again the Bible tells us that our job is to humble ourselves in His sight and He will exalts us.

It consequential that we, like those in antiquity, introduce our children to Jesus. That we bring them into His presence. Bring them under the teaching and preaching of the Word of God and the Gospel of the grace of God that they might learn of Jesus and be saved. Bring them where the Holy Spirit is real and alive. Bring them to Sunday school where they will hear all about the mighty works of God.  Where they will hear about creation; about His mighty deliverance of His people; about His Son the Lord Jesus Christ and all the mighty works that He did during His public ministry, and about His great salvation on the cross of Calvary. If we don’t teach our children to love Christ Jesus,  tutor them in His love for us, the world will effectively teach them to turn their backs on Him condemning them to an eternity in hell. I implore you, don’t let that happen. We cannot, we must not allow the school, community, television, or even some church organizations to establish our children’s values. 

Friends, I know we are all busy but now it the time to take the time for our children and our grandchildren, while they are still young. While they are till interested in what you have to say, while they still listen. Help them hide God’s promises, His Holy Word in their hearts because before we know it they have grown older, and our best opportunity for teaching them how to live happy and fulfilling lives is past. Amen?

Have a good day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …..