By Pastor Victor Blair
" The Benefits that Children Get when Parents Bring them to Church "
" One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them . But when the disciples saw this , they scolded the parents for bothering him . Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciple , Let the children come to me . Don ' t stop them ! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children . 1 tell you the truth , anyone who doesn ' t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it ." Luke 18 : 15-17 NLT
By Pastor Victor Blair
The Fountainhead Baptist Church Oviedo , Florida
Pastor Victor Blair Benefits Children Church Oviedo , Florida Mother ' s Day 2018
0 ne of the criticisms that Jesus received during his ministry was that he spent too much time with the wrong people . People that were looked down upon , people that didn ' t have much , persons with sordid backgrounds , undesirable , substance abusers , prostitutes , those requiring public assistance , the sick , those with little education or no education , the misfits of society . Yet , this is actually good news because somewhere amid the category of misfit we all fit .
Many people were critical of Jesus because he deliberately spent time with persons that were often minimized . In this case the children . The odd thing is that this attitude existed in Jesus ' disciples . The disciples ( church members ) were in fact guilty of hindering children from having personal contact with Jesus . Their attitudes were the result of believing that Jesus needed to spend time with persons of status , and he did , but Jesus ' concern and care extends to all persons .
Interestingly enough though the passage suggests that the parents have the responsibility of bringing their children to church . The passage also conveys that there will be challenges to bringing children to church including discouraging disciples . Of course , in a contemporary setting these challenges includes things like getting them out of bed , turning off the wii , the television , hitting the mute button on Young Jeezy , Tyga , and Wiz Khalifa , whether the children like it or not .
This text teaches us that there are at least three benefits that children receive when they come into the presence of Jesus : He touches them , he blesses them , and he uses them .
Jesus told his disciples that whoever offends persons that believed in him that it would be better for that person to have a millstone hung around their neck and they be drowned in the sea . And we should not make the mistake of thinking that this is not applicable to us . Whenever we fail to bring our children to church , whenever we fail to teach our children about the Lord and emphasis their need for him , parents might as well place a millstone around their necks .
It ' s sad when children can quote " My front , my back , lick my .... " but they can ' t quote the Gospel . Our children seem to know every secular artist but they know little about the burning bush , the Red Sea , or how the walls of Jericho fell flat . At some point they need to know that God loves them and that there is not a problem that God can ' t solve . When parents fail to introduce their children to Jesus they might as well put a millstone around their own necks and inevitably drown in the sea of indebtedness , grief , and sorrow .
Jesus made the statement that the children be allowed to come to him because he desires to touch them . Touch means to fasten , to adhere to . In other words , Jesus was saying to them and to us that he wants to be a part of their lives , he wants to be connected to them . Then he says that he also wants to " Bless them ." Bless means to celebrate , to praise , to invoke blessings . Every parent should want the Lord to bless their children and he will but it begins with parents bringing the children to him .
Jesus says , " Bring the children to me ." We learn from the text that he wants to touch them , he wants to bless them , and thirdly , he wants to use them . When the children are brought before Jesus he actually contrasts them with a religious Pharisee . The conclusion is given that entrance into the kingdom is achieved by approaching God in a childlike manner . He uses the children to give us an example of what our attitudes should be . Meek , humble , receptive , open . Let Jesus touch , bless , and use the children . These are a few of the benefits that children get when parents bring them to church .