[Friday's Devotional] - Jesus and the children

Jesus and the children At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:1-5 [NIV] The phrase "Children are the church of tomorrow" was a phrase I heard often growing up in church. I think it was a warning to adults not to alienate children in church, and to motivate them to volunteer for children's work and nurture the next generation of church leaders. As the years went by, another phrase seemed to take its place: "Children are the church of today", because it was realised that children were not "treading water", waiting to grow into an adult church, but that the church was for all ages and children were not to be treated as second class citizens in the Kingdom. I think there is truth in both, but there is still a way to go for most churches in realising the potential of children in the church community. Three gospel writers, Matthew, Mark and Luke tell the story of how Jesus demonstrated the value he placed on children. People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16 [NIV] The disciples were probably acting in what they thought were Jesus' best interests, after all he had had a hard day and was probably tired and the parents were no doubt jostling and pushing and holding their children up and clamouring for attention. The disciples no doubt thought "kissing babies" was something Jesus could gladly do without.  Jesus was quite short with them, because by their actions they were betraying a belief that children are irrelevant and a nuisance. He used the situation as another illustration of the Kingdom. What qualities does a little child have that open the doors of the kingdom? There are so many including innocence, acceptance, trust, purity and openness. Adults would do well to remember that though God uses our intellect, learning and experience, he doesn't demand we present him with achievements before he values us. The things that may matter to us, the things we value each other for, don't necessarily count for much with God. He wants us to come to him as children. Father God, Thank you for showing us that you value children – your children – and that you are never too tired, distracted or disinterested to give us your attention as human fathers sometimes can be. We thank you that we don't have to strive to be accepted, because you love us as we are. Amen Mairi Mowbray Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!