Precious in His Sight

Jesus said, “let the little children come unto me, and do not forbid them . . . (Matthew 19:13-15). Jesus truly loves the little children, all the children of the world. In fact, “their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven”, as Jesus so aptly said in Matthew 18:10. Furthermore, children were pointed out by our Savior as examples for faith, humility, innocency and decency (Matt. 18:1-11). Children are certainly a treasure from the Lord to be enjoyed, loved, directed and protected (Psalm 127:3-5). We as adults have much to learn from a child, but as God would have it we have much to teach children of the ways of God. Our responsibility is spelled out in Deuteronomy 6:4-6 to show a heart of love for God before our children, and share the words of God with our children. Let us love our children as Jesus does. He sought to meet the needs of children through providing for their physical health (Mark 5:38-43), mental health (Mark 7:24-30; 9:17-27), and even nutritional needs by way of the use of a young boys lunch (John 9:9; Matthew 14:9-21). Above all, Christ’s teachings would have a deep-seated effect upon the children of His day as seen in their response at His triumphal entry. The young ones cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David” (Matthew 21:15). Jesus, in this case, gave a simple rebuke to the religious elite that wanted the children silenced by pointing them to Psalm 8 that highlighted the wonderful insight of the children (Matthew 21:16). Let us not miss loving and leading our children to understand Christ’s deep and abiding love for them, and His claims upon their lives as the Lord of all, during their formative years.