Tuesday after the Third Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on June 18, 2024 by under
Scripture: St. Mark 10:13-16 (NKJV)
10:13 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” 16 And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.
Devotion
Jesus made it very clear, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.” However, St. Paul wrote, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Cor. 13:11). So which is it? Be a “little child,” or be a “man”?
As children grow, they learn life skills so they can grow to be self-sufficient. A “little child” grows up and becomes a “man”. As we grow in Christ, we learn to “put away childish things.” Tell a little boy to leave the cookie jar alone, and with crumbs still on his face he will say, “I didn’t eat the cookie.” As God leads us to mature in faith, He shows us how “childish” it is to think we can hide our sins from Him. He helps us to mature by bringing us to repentance and showing us how utterly dependent we are upon Him. By God’s grace, we grow to become less and less “childish” so we can become men and women of God, who know how dependent we are upon Him as His “little children.”
Collect: O God, the Protector of all that trust in Thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us Thy mercy; that Thou being our Ruler and Guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
