Blog Post Sunday January 29

By Emma Cassell

Matthew 19:13-15

Priority of Children 

The words of Jesus challenged the attitude of many of His contemporaries towards children. Jesus placed His hands on the little children and prayed for them. The disciples felt that Jesus should not be distracted by them. Jesus replied, let the little children come to  me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such  as these. He demonstrated the high priority children should have in our lives. As parents, it is  very important to prioritize our children and not see them as distracting us from our work  or ministry. As a church, we need to see  that our children and youth have priority in terms of  resources and facilities because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them as much as anyone else.

19:16-30

With God  nothing  is  impossible 

In our attempt to rationalize the  words of Jesus,  we miss the  point. The point  is that, it is totally unthinkable for a camel to go through the eye of a  needle. But what is impossible in human terms, is possible with God. 

In context to Jesus words, and in answer to the disciples question - then who has any chance at all? Jesus response.... "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. 

Yes..... every chance in the world if you trust God to  do it. " 

Jesus rarely asked people  to give away everything. But in this case, He did. For everyone, there is a cost to following Jesus. There may be a cost of giving up things that we know  to be  wrong but do not want to give up. Whatever the cost, it is nothing compared to what it cost Jesus. The rich young man missed out on so much. 

With you Father God, all things are possible. Help us to be willing to give up everything for the sake of your kingdom. 

In our own personal  lives, and as a church, Lord Jesus, encourage us to stay on our tracks for children.