Like children

Read Luke 18: 15-29

My three children are of the ages where they can all sit on my lap. They have no agenda or specific wants, other than to just be there, in a place where they feel secure and loved. I certainly know that this will not last forever, but I am holding onto it for as long as I can. In these moments I am reminded of the many stories in the Gospel of Luke that tells us of the security that only Jesus can provide.

In Luke Chapter 18 we see children trying to approach Jesus, but His disciples, wanting to give Jesus a break from the crowds, attempt to stop them. But Jesus teaches them, and the crowd surrounding Him, that He wants people to desire to come to Him, like little children, to have their needs met, just as my young children come to me for their safekeeping. 

In this chapter, Jesus also teaches a young ruler about eternal life. Desiring to know what good thing he must do to have eternal life, the ruler asks Jesus, “What must I do to be saved?” Jesus then tells him that to have life, he must be willing to give all he has to the poor and follow Him, and then he will have a treasure in heaven. The young ruler was not willing to do so. Instead of walking towards Jesus for his security, he walked away. 

We can say we want to follow Jesus, but if it’s not going to cost us anything, and if we don’t willingly come to Him, then we will be like the young ruler who walks away. We must set aside any other security we have in other things and come to Him, and trust Him for all our needs. We need to ask ourselves if there is anything we are putting our security and satisfaction in other than God, because that will likely be the very thing that prevents us from God’s protection and His will for our lives.