daily java

Daily Java:

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 disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” (Luke 18:15-17)

The parents brought their children to Jesus. They wanted him to bless them, or just to touch them, to heal them, to kiss them. There was something about him that kids liked. His lack of artificiality, his strength, his goodness – something. And he welcomed them. but the apostles saw them as hindrances, beneath his dignity to have little babies throw up on his robe. They tried to stop them from “bothering” Jesus. He had a fat lot more important things to do than sit around holding wet babies and dirty children.

But Jesus welcomed them. and, as usual, he turned them into an object lesson. Look at these kids, he said. They are what I want you to be like. “You grown men,” he said, “I want you to like these little kids.” And it probably baffled the apostles. You would think he wanted us to grow up, not regress into children. What Jesus wanted, however, was the attitude of a child.

There is an attitude in a little child that Jesus wanted in his disciples. It was an attitude of dependence and humility.

Little children know they are little children. They are under no illusions as to their independence. They know they need their parents. They know that they are not capable of doing a lot of things and need the help. They are aware of their need.

When we get to thinking that we are so great and can do anything, that is when we get in trouble.

In 2 Corinthians 3:4-5, the apostle Paul said: We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. About the time we think we have it all together, we lose it all. About the time we think we have the strength to do whatever we want to do in life, we lose that strength. When we finally think we have the key, we lose it.

The point is that if we try to live our lives ourselves, without the grace of God, we will lose our lives. We will lose completely. We only win if God is with us.

The child knows that. He won’t eat dinner unless you cook it. He won’t get to school or have a snack or clean sheets or a warm and comfortable home unless you give it to him. He is dependent on you. He does what he can and he has responsibilities. But ultimately, he is dependent on you, the parent.

It is a hard thing for an adult to grasp, that dependence. It is difficult to be dependent on someone else – even God – when you have been taught to be independent all your life. But that is what the grace of God is. It is the strength God gives those who are able to accept their own failure and his strength.

We tried it ourselves and look where it landed us. Now we give ourselves to God and we are once again strong.