One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.
But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.
We are sometime guilty of thinking that children can't understand deep spiritual concepts. We think serious teaching is only for adults. I've heard people say that the children are the future of the church. I think maybe Jesus would disagree. Children are the church!
When Jesus says that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like little children, we need to ask in what way do we need to be child-like in order to take our place in the Kingdom?
Children have several characteristics that Jesus may have been talking about. Children are trusting. Children are loving. Children believe. Children are learners. Jesus may have been talking about any or all of these qualities.
There is one characteristic, though, that children have that I think defines them more than any other: Children are helpless. If you were to abandon a small child in a big city, unless someone helped him, he would die. If you were to place a small child in the jungle or a forest or even a farm, if nobody helped her, she would die. Children cannot provide for themselves. Children cannot defend themselves. Children cannot care for themselves. They don't even know it, but they are utterly helpless and would die if not for the care and provision of adults.
We don't always understand this about ourselves either, but spiritually we are helpless; we are bankrupt; we have nothing to offer God. We want so desperately to earn our way. We want to be able to say, "God did His part, and I did mine, and between our combined efforts, I was saved." We wish the old adage, "God helps those who help themselves," was true -but it isn't. The reality is that God helps those who recognize that they cannot possibly help themselves. God helps those who know they are spiritually bankrupt. God helps the helpless and the hopeless. The kingdom of God belongs to those who are like children.
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