Family Bible Study | June 19
The trust and faith of a child
If you have ever held a newborn baby you have looked in amazement at what God can do. Even their breath is pure and clean. For the next several years they are dependent on their parents. They must trust their parents to love and protect them. Their innocence will fade as they work their way through life but at least in the beginning they are pure and they are an example of what Jesus wants us to be in our relationship to the Father. Listen to how Jesus discusses the faith of a child as an example of what he expects of adults.
“One day some mothers brought their babies to him to touch and bless. But the disciples told them to go away. Then Jesus called the children over to him and said to the disciples, ‘Let the little children come to me! Never send them away! For the Kingdom of God belongs to men who have hearts as trusting as these little children’s. And anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get within the Kingdom’s gates.”’ LUKE 18:15-17 TLB
The next quotation from Jesus makes a point that every parent should not miss. “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” MATTHEW 18:10 NKJV
Does that verse mean that the child will not suffer from persecution or neglect? No, it means that no matter what the situation, these little ones have an angel watching over them. Jesus also makes it very clear that anyone who harms a child physically or emotionally is in big trouble. Listen:
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. MARK 9:42-43 NKJV
Have you ever felt like you have or ever had a guardian angel? Why do you think that Jesus used the “faith of a child” as an example of what he expects of us all? Do you now trust God, as you once (and hopefully still do) trusted your parents?
Core Christian value: Jesus repeatedly held up children -their level of trust, their innocence, their faith- as examples of what he wants us all to be.
