Tuesday after the Third Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on June 22, 2021 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
“Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”
How sadly misunderstood these words of our Lord are! Many people think they mean “children are sweet and innocent, so we must become sweet and innocent like them to be saved.” It seems innocuous, but it is a formula for all the horrors of a works-righteous plan of salvation. How sweet is sweet enough? How can I return to innocence, since I have so often strayed?
Little children, just like the rest of us, are born sinful and unclean. The point of analogy, rather, is this: children have nothing to offer. They do not come to Jesus with bargains. They simply receive what He graciously gives. It is in this sense that we are to receive the kingdom of God “as a little child.” No bargaining with God. No deals. No manipulations. It is simply the faithful confession that we deserve nothing, and the faithful trust that, simply by grace through faith for Christ’s sake, God will bestow on us His saving gifts; He will yet be merciful toward us.
Prayer: 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.
