“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in My name welcomes me… If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.” Mark 9:37,42

In his book Too Small To Be Ignored, Wess Stafford, President of Compassion International speaks passionately out of his own personal experience about the power an unkind word or a single act of cruelty and abuse has to destroy or seriously damage a young life. Facing the wrath of the boarding school superintendent because he had begged his mother not to send him back to a place that beat him and the other kids incessantly, young Wesley was now call to the front in a “special meeting” and told to stand on a chair facing his classmates.

“’Let me introduce you to Satan’s favorite tool,’ Mr. Edwards began. I looked up in shock. I felt my bowels begin to quiver. ‘Wesley has decided to serve Satan. He told his mother about what happens here, and now she is not able to do her important work here on the mission field. Satan has won,’ the man continued. ‘He used Wesley, and now there will be Africans in hell because of this boy you see standing before you.’” (I urge you to read the book for the rest of the story!)

Our Lord left no doubt in Mark 9:42 about how seriously God takes any act or words that would bring harm to His little ones.  To fear God is to heed this warning with all our being.  To delight in that which God delights in is to compassionately welcome and bless those who are so precious to Him, not only our own grandchildren, but all children.  To do so, is to do it unto our Lord.

FANNING THE FLAME
What do you see when you see the children of our world, not just your grandchildren? Do you see the hunger for love and value? Do see children being taken captive by the Enemy through the empty deceptions of worldly attractions and religious hypocrisy? Do you see the children the way Jesus sees them and do you respond with the same indignation when you see them hindered from coming to Him?

Take the lead in your church to be Jesus' hands and voice for the children. CGN can help you organize an inter-generational retreat for parents, grandparents and grandchildren to talk about some of these issues. Choose to play in the game and not sit on the sideline. This is the final quarter, and it's no time to head for the locker room.

GRANDPAUSE: "The only thing more painful than obedience is disobedience." -- Unknown