October 21, 2012 … Like the Little Ones

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 295

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Matthew, Chapter 18 To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passages: Matthew 18: 2; 6; 10-11; 12-14: [NLT] … {Chapter 18 of Matthew’s Gospel is loaded with great “how to live” guidance. There is Jesus’ teaching on to deal with temptation, something that we all must confront in life. He also teaches Christians how to handle those who sin against us with forgiveness, even teaching Peter specifically [and all believers] about this with a parable of the unforgiving debtor. We in today’s church have Jesus’ teaching in this chapter on how God’s church, when it was established, would handle believers who persisted in unGodly sin as well as Jesus showing how believers agreeing, especially in prayer, could find the very presence of God (see Matt. 18: 20). And finally, Jesus, likely holding a small child in His arms, says that Heaven celebrates, like a lost sheep being found by his shepherd or lost child being found by his parent, showing how much God loves His children. Note Jesus’ loving attitude toward children in Matt. 18 in verses 6, 10-11, and 12-14. And these passages give us great insight, as well as in parallel passages in Matt. 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18, into what Jesus is teaching believers today about the horrors of abortion.} 2 Jesus called a small child over to him and put the child among them. … 6 “ But if anyone causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck.” … 
10 “Beware that you don’t despise a single one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father. [NKJV – verse 11 is omitted in some translations/manuscripts – such as NIV and NLT] 11 “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”… 12 “If a shepherd has one hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? 13 And if he finds it, he will surely rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! 14 In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.”  
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Cross Reference Passages: Matthew 19: 13-15 : [NLT] …{Another passage showing just how much Jesus loved children and likened them to those who were lost and needed to be loved into His kingdom.} … 13 Some children were brought to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. The disciples told them not to bother him. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.”  15 And he put his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left. … 

Cross Reference Passage: Mark 10: 13-16 : [NLT] …{A parallel passage to Matthew 14: 13-15 above and Luke 18: 15-17 below.} … 13 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them, but the disciples told them not to bother him. 14 But when Jesus saw what was happening, he was very displeased with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I assure you, anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God.” 16Then he took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. 

Cross Reference Passage: Luke 18: 15-17 : [NLT] …{Are we getting the idea just how much Jesus loved little children and taught that we adult believers should come to have childlike faith and humility like them. } … 15 One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them, but the disciples told them not to bother him. 16 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 such as these. 17 I assure you, anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God.” 

My Journal for Today: Another wisdom packed chapter in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 18, including Jesus’ teaching on how His church, which would be established after His resurrection, should handle those amongst the believers who persisted in sinful behavior. Church discipline is a major area lacking in the church today so it would be easy for me to launch here into journaling about this matter. And it would also be easy to blog about how Jesus was teaching His disciples in this chapter about how they needed to have the faith and humility of a little child rather than trying, as the inner 12 often did, to one-up each other.

And to teach these lessons in humility, Godly forgiveness, and loving kindness in this chapter, Jesus called a little child to himself; and likely cuddling the child gently, He began to teach His disciples the lessons about life contained in this chapter. And yes, the lessons are important; and I could blog about them here, but even more important – I believe – is Jesus’ loving attitude about little children and what it says to us, as His disciples today, about the horrors of abortion.

Today almost 60,000,000 babies have been KILLED … MURDERED … ABORTED in the past 50 years by an attitude about life which is ANTI-CHRIST!   Some say the Bible doesn’t teach about abortion, therefore we can abide it in our culture, especially when we see how much God and Jesus loved and protected womanhood. They say that a woman should have the right of life/death over the fetus because that growing tissue within her does not have rights because it is an invader in her body until it is born. And most certainly books have been, and are being, written about this controversy.

But as far as I’m concerned, beyond the Biblical mandates about life versus death in Deuteronomy 30: 19 and Psalm 139: 13-16, just looking at what Jesus taught about little children in Matthew 18 and 19, as well as the parallel passages in Mark and Luke quoted above, we should see that if we see a baby in the womb as a “child,” abortion becomes murder – no matter what has taken place (yes, even rape or incest) to cause that intrauterine baby to be conceived. Any conceived fetus is a life; and it will become one of those children which Jesus lovingly used to illustrate how God and His kingdom look upon His children – of any age … whether that life is a conceived two-cell embryo or an 85 year old child of His.

I’m going to leave it to you to agree or disagree with me; but if you disagree and somehow support abortion in our times, and if you call yourself a disciple of Christ, I seriously ask you to consider how much Jesus loved little children; and He clearly said that “… the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” And if a newly conceived fetus is a child of God in His making, I ask, how can we possibly stop that life from forming and becoming one of those children whom Jesus said we must never stop them from coming to Him?

My Prayer Today: … Yes, Lord, in Your word today, I see you clearly teaching that we must never stop a child from coming to You … whether that be in the womb or with how we treat our children once born. Amen