Matthew
Bring Your Children to Jesus
Parents it is not always easy to get your children to Jesus
You may have to press through whining and disciples
Who are not understanding of children’s needs, to develop good mental health
Minds filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
Faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
The mechanics of math, language, science, shop, sports, etc. are important
But without godly character their lives
And the lives of others, will cause serious harm
As I saw a little girl waving to me,
I had visions of myself as a little boy
Where people in church reached out to me with love and kindness
My life has been shaped as my mind developed in those formative years
My parents brought me to Jesus and I found love, kindness, joy peace
And a desire to developed self-discipline to please Jesus who gave me so much
Parents, the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to your children
Make sure they get to Jesus
Disciples of Jesus, make sure you see little children with great importance
Like Jesus does
Cover them with the hand of blessing and prayers
For they will grow up and change the world
Bring Your Children to Jesus
On Sunday mornings,
I stand outside one of the
main meeting room doors at church.
I love to smile and give greetings
to the people coming into the service.
One Sunday morning
a little girl came in with her parents,
in her daddy’s arms.
I greeted Mom and Dad
and gave a wave with my hand to the little girl.
She looked a little puzzled
as they walked by in that brief moment.
Because the fog from the fog machine
causes me health issues…
I stand at the door in the hallway where
I can worship until time for the message.
During the worship this dad brought
out his little girl and I waved at her again.
The dad carried her down the hallway
and sat her down.
She had to be less then 2 feet tall
and she was not real stable on her feet.
After her father sat her down,
she turned to me at the other end of the hallway
and waved to me and I waved back.
She walked a little closer stumbling into the wall
and waved again and I waved back.
This happened 4 or 5 times till she
had gotten within a few feet of me.
She walked into the service with her dad following her
and saw an usher who was looking forward
and did not see her.
I could tell she was wanting to wave
to the usher and for him to wave back.
I realized I was making a big difference in her life.
Her enjoyment of being recognized with kindness
brought out in her joy to give recognition and kindness to others.
As a little child, her mind was being shaped
and I got to be a part of it.
I believe for the rest of her life she will
recognize people with a smile and kindness.
I pray no one ever harms her child-like love.
We bring our children to a lot of people.
We bring them to family to build family values.
We bring our children to schools to get an education.
We bring our children to baby sitters and TV to get a break.
We bring our children to many people and things.
Some of those people and things are with a lot of thought…
And others just seem to happen.
We see Jesus took a very strong view of the value
and violability of children in Matthew 18:2 when…
He took a little child to illustrate who were
the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Now, in Matthew 19:13, parents were
bringing their little children to Him.
The purpose was to get Jesus to lay
His hands on them and bless them.
The disciples saw this as a distraction.
They saw this as unimportant.
They saw this as a bother.
They forgot the importance Jesus puts on children.
The need to protect their minds
and shape their minds with the values
of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus says…
"Let the little children come to me,
and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Matthew 19:14
We bring our children to lots of places and things.
To the child’s mind they are taking it all in without question.
Little children have no filter…
The good and the bad both get imbedded
in the mind of a child and it is the shape of their mind
as they grow into adulthood that effects
their decisions the rest of their lives.
I have questions why we have so much mental health problems.
Is it genetic?…
Something people are born with?
In some cases it is.
But I think more than we want to admit…
Mental health issues stem from our formative years.
We, ourselves, can be their biggest enemy if…
We do not understand proper love and how to give it.
I say proper love because the definition of love means
a lot of things that are not true love.
It is this understanding of love we lack in…
Like the disciple, who wanted to
keep the children away from Jesus.
The disciples were good people
but they did not see the value and need
of the children being with Jesus.
These parents, who were bringing their children to Jesus,
know the need of their children.
The need to be touched by Jesus.
To see Jesus’ hand on them, blessing them.
To be prayed for by Jesus
that they might have access to the Father,
like Jesus.
I am sure some of the children the parents were bringing to Jesus
were whining, and fussing.
Yet, it did not stop the parents…
But it did the disciples.
Parents…
It is not always easy to get your children to Jesus.
You may have to press through
the whining, and disciples, who are not understanding
of children’s needs to develop good mental health.
Minds filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
The mechanics of math, language, science, shop, sports, etc.
are important…
But without godly character their lives,
and the lives of others, will cause serious harm.
As I saw that little girl waving to me…
I had visions of myself as a little boy
where people in church reached out to me
with love and kindness.
My life has been shaped as my mind
developed in those formative years.
My parents brought me to Jesus…
And I found love, kindness, joy peace,
and a desire to developed self-discipline
to please Jesus who gave me so much.
Parents…
The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to your children.
Make sure they get to Jesus.
Disciples of Jesus…
Make sure you see little children
with great importance like Jesus does.
Cover them with the hand of blessing and prayers…
For they will grow up and change the world.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 19:13-15 NIV
13 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14 Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
