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Today's Quote
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Today's Verse
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Daily Wisdom
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Some passages tend to sneak up on us and then cling to us with a persistence that is almost frightening. Matthew 18:1-14 is one such passage. Jesus called a child to him and set him in the midst of the disciples and then taught several lessons. Throughout the passage the underlying theme is God's concern for children.
His lessons involve being like children (verse 3), receiving children (verse 5), never causing children to stumble (verse 6), avoiding being a stumbling block (verse 7), never despising children (verse 10), children's connection with God (verse 10), children as lost sheep (verses 12 and 13), and God's desire that not one child should perish (verse 14).
We frequently take this passage apart and look at its parts separately. We consider humility (verse 4), cutting off hands and feet or plucking out eyes (verses 8 and 9), the idea of guardian angels (verse 10), or the importance of saving the lost (verses 12 and 13).
As we separate the parts and look at the suggested doctrines we can isolate, we can lose sight of the focus of the passage -- children. The entire passage, from verse 1 to 14, is about children. Children come into the world sinless open books with pages to be filled. Adults are the guides who determine what will be written on those pages.
Adults -- parents, relatives, teachers, and friends -- can point children toward God or become stumbling blocks. If adults behave in such a manner that children stumble it would be better for those adults if they were drowned in the depths of the sea.
This is the persistent nagging message of Matthew 18 -- if adults do not point children toward the Father they fail as adults. How do we deal with children -- others and ours? It is sobering to consider what God wants from us as we come in contact with his images while they are yet children!
