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Sunday, May 20, 2012
Today's Message: Forbid Them Not
"But Jesus said, "Allow the little children, and don't forbid them to come to me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like these." Matthew 19:14
The love of Christ for children was one of the most beautiful qualities in His life. It revealed His true human-heartedness. But we must remember too that it revealed His divine interest in the children.
Jesus was very displeased when His disciples rebuked those who brought the little ones, and tried to keep the children away. “Allow the little children, and don't forbid them to come to me,” He said. So we have the caution for ourselves. We must be very careful that we never keep any children from coming to Christ.
We could do this in many ways. We may do this if we are parents or older Christians, by our own worldly example. Nominal Christian parents are likely to keep their children away from the Savior, even unintentionally, by the influence of their own life. We may do it also by telling them they are too young to come to Him; by simply doing nothing, allowing them to grow up uninfluenced by what is right; by allowing their minds to become pre-occupied with other things, to the exclusion of Christ.
Christ calls us to clear every barrier out of the way so that the children can come to Him. Notice that it is to Christ Himself that the children should come. Suppose they cannot understand “the plan of redemption,” or cannot know the doctrines of the Church, or cannot answer the hard questions we sometimes put to those seeking Christ -- shall we therefore prevent them from coming? No, say's Christ, “Let them come to me.” No matter how little they know of the way, we are to put up no obstacles. We are to make no demands of them having knowledge or experience. We are only to be certain that they can freely come to Him. After that there will be time enough to teach them.
