Let the Children Come

Jesus said in Mark 10:13- "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God."


I take my children with me every where I go. When I do ministry, my children follow me and do ministry as well. They are my ministry. I don't want to leave them behind with babysitters so that I can go "minister." I want them right beside me and following my example. This is how they will learn.


Lately, I have seen many awesome ministries, but the family is suffering. Our main ministry is to minister to those closest to us. Our family is our most important ministry. They see us in our weakness, and when we are having a hard day. The whole world can say great and awesome things about us and can think that we are great, but what really matters is what those in our family think.


In Mark 10:13 I believe that the disciples were probably trying to have their alone time with Jesus, and then the children came and "interrupted." They probably were trying to direct the service so that it would cater to the adults. But Jesus was greatly displeased by their effort to control the situation, and wanted the children to come! And then he says, "Unless you become like a child, you will not enter the kingdom."


Become like a child? Children are not tame. They can be noisy. They can be rude. They sometimes don't know how to act proper. But they have sensitive hearts and a whole lot of faith. We must become like them instead of trying to make them become more like us. 


We must lead our children to Jesus and not forbid them. We should stop leaving them, but lead them instead. They count. They matter. They are important to God's heart and they should be important to our hearts as well.