Kids Of The Kingdom

Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.”

Luke 18:16

YOU’RE ON THE CLOCK EVERY DAY, starting when your feet hit the floor in the morning, and you don’t clock out until your head hits the pillow at night. Even then, you’re constantly “on call.” You could be needed at any moment throughout the night. There are no days off, and there’s no pay. This is the job of a parent.

Because of the demands children make on their parents, it’s sometimes easy to see our children as a distraction to the things that we want or need to accomplish. In Luke 18, parents were bringing their children to Jesus so that He would bless them, but the disciples rebuked them. They saw the children as a distraction from the “real work” that Jesus was doing.

Jesus saw this encounter in a different light. He recognized that children can teach us what it looks like to live in the Kingdom of God. Children live in a state of dependence. To make it from day to day, they have to put their confidence in their parents to provide and care for them. That’s why Jesus says, “The Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children”—it belongs to dependent people. As children of God, we are called to trust Him to provide what we need. In those moments when your children seem like a distraction, remember that God has put them in your life as a blessing and a reminder that He knows what you need because you are His child.

BOTTOM LINE

Children are a gift from God and a reminder to us to walk by dependent faith.

Moment of Strength: Luke 18:15-17