For unto us a child is born…

 

Some parts of the world devalue children, even use them for selfish gain. One writer remembers being in another country and men on the street offered him 8-9 year old girls for ‘his pleasure’ — and he was horrified.

Jesus valued children. Piper makes a list with verses, first pointing out that Jesus came as a child. I wrote an article called “That perfect Child” exploring the idea of what it might have been like to raise Him. One thing is certain; Jesus knows what it is to be a child.

As an adult, He invited children to Him: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them.… And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands upon them.” (Mark 10:14, 16)

He also healed children, cast a demon out of at least one child, and raised another (or more?) from the dead.

Jesus did not ignore the service offered by a boy who offered his lunch so the Lord could feed five thousand people.

“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. (John 6:9–10)

He also accepted, even applauded praise from children:  

And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” (Matthew 21:14–16)

I’m horrified too by the abuse of children. Evil people see them as helpless to defend themselves and naive to many dangers around them. Very young children can be easily drawn from safety to grave danger. This gives pause to these words from the Savior:

And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:2–4)

Does being like a child make adult Christians open to exploitation? Those who think so are foolishly unaware that God protects His people. Not only that, a childlike person is aware of their weaknesses and inabilities and the need to rely on the Lord. A failure to do so can put us in all sorts of dangers. The world is filled with those who take advantage of weakness and the needy. Without the protection of Jesus and the care of other Christians, we could be exploited by spam, or greater abuses, some inflicted by even our own families.

I don’t mind being like a child in that I know who my Father is and know what it means to experience His care. God is not controlling me but I’ve learned that when I step outside of His care to make my own choices and do my own thing, the consequences are never good. Far better to be in His family like a child than to do life thinking I’m all grown up now.

PRAY: Jesus. I don’t remember that my folks ever said, “Oh, grow up” to me when I made decisions as a child. I’m glad for that. I’m also glad that childlike thinking makes trusting You easier. Some think that a willing and obedient child is suffering some sort of emotional abuse, and while that is possible, those children who are confident in the care of their parents have much less difficulty being confident in the care of our Heavenly Father. For this, I also give thanks.