Morning By Morning #261

Bring the boy to me.

Mark 9:19

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

The poor disappointed father turned away in despair from the disciples to their Master. The man’s son was in the worst possible condition and everything he tried had failed, but the suffering child was quickly delivered from the Evil One when, in faith, the father obeyed the Lord Jesus’ words: “Bring the boy to me.” Children are a precious gift and “heritage from the LORD” (Ps. 127:3), but a great deal of anxiety comes with them. They may bring great joy or great misery to their parents, and they may be filled with the Spirit of God or possessed by the spirit of evil. Yet in every case the Word of God gives us one remedy for the cure of all their troubles, “Bring [them] to me.”

Oh, that we would agonize in prayer on their behalf while they are still babies! Their sin nature is there, so may our prayers begin to attack sin early. Our cries in prayer for our children should precede the crying we will endure upon their actual first steps into the world of sin. When our children are teenagers, we may see sad signs of that “deaf and dumb” spirit causing them to refuse to pray or hear the voice of God in their soul, but Jesus still commands, “Bring [them] to me.” And once they become adults, they may still wallow in sin and rage with hostility toward God. Yet even then, when our hearts are breaking, we should remember the great Physician’s words, “Bring [them] to me.” We must never cease to pray for them until they cease to breathe, for no case is hopeless while Jesus lives.

Sometimes the Lord allows His people to be forced into a corner so they may truly learn from experience how vital He is to them. And ungodly children, especially when they reveal our own powerlessness against the depravity of their hearts, force us to run to our Lord for strength, which is a great blessing to us.

Whatever your need may be this morning, may it be a strong river taking you to the ocean of God’s divine love. Jesus can quickly remove your sorrow, for He delights to comfort you. May you quickly run to Him while He waits to meet with you.

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Have you ever noticed how children do not need to be taught to be selfish, to lie, to take from others, or to use words such as I, me, my, or mine? What could be greater proof that we are all born with original sin? Here is how God’s Word puts it: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5). “Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies” (Ps. 58:3). “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him” (Prov. 22:15). “You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ear has not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth” (Isa. 48:8).

All this points to exactly why we need a Savior and why as parents we must run to Him for help. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them” (Mark 10:14). And not only should we “not hinder them” but we must be proactive, and as the Lord also said, “Bring [them] to me.”

Godly parents will take their children to Jesus through prayer continually and will “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).