Lent: Little Children

Matthew 19:13-15

4yr coloring her "prayer journal" after being read a
passage from the Bible.

Such a short encounter with Jesus; I wonder how many of these children became leaders in the early Church as adults?
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It is the children of today who will take care of us when we are old. It is the children of today that will run society when we retire. It is the children of today who will determine what the world will look like in the future. If we push them away from the most important areas of our lives now, those areas will probably never be important to them when they grow up. The parents who brought the children to Jesus knew this. They understood the value of the Messiah laying His hands on them and praying for them. They probably reminded their children for years afterward that they had met Jesus and been blessed by Him. The only ones in this account who forgot the importance of children were the disciples, who were quickly reminded by the Master of the true values of the Lord.
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Do you bring your children to Jesus to be blessed by Him? Do you invite them into the most important areas of your life? I don't think our days should be centered around our children, but rather we should invite them to share with us in our activities, in ways that are appropriate to them. They should see us pray and read Scripture everyday, knowing that they can sit quietly with us or receive a hug and be sent back to their play. They should be taught how to have their own time of prayer and Scripture reading. They should be included in other times of prayer throughout the day: before meals, at bedtime, a few minutes set apart as a family, when troubles arise, when blessings are received. If God is truly important to us, we need to bring our children to Him, so they will get to know Him also. The future of the Church and the future of the world rest in their hands.