Receiving Children With Christ
Today’s devotional
A child's repeated question can arrive just when an adult wants to finish a task. It may sound like an interruption, yet it can also be an invitation to notice a world still being discovered. The question deserves more than a calculation of whether it is useful. A person is reaching toward understanding and toward another person.
Wonder receives what is present before deciding that it has already been exhausted by a name or explanation. Knowledge can deepen this attention. Learning how a seed grows or why a shadow moves can give a child more to notice. Questions, play, movement, and stories belong to a child's life now, as well as to future learning.
In Mark 10, adults try to keep children away from Jesus. He receives them. Their access to his attention does not depend on an adult level of understanding or an impressive contribution. The scene challenges any community that treats children chiefly as interruptions to its important work. Their welcome belongs within the work itself.
Jesus' welcome also leaves room for patient guidance. Children need truthful boundaries, protection, and help learning that other people matter. Curiosity cannot justify hurting someone. Different ways of speaking, playing, or responding do not establish different grades of worth. We can correct a harmful action while continuing to receive the child as someone who belongs.
Those who care for children also need grace. Fatigue, limited time, and uncertainty can make patient attention difficult. Christ does not ask us to become the authors of another person's whole future. His mercy calls us back to responsible care, including acknowledging when we have failed and accepting help rather than pretending to be sufficient alone.
Today, make a little space for a question, a story, or a discovery without immediately turning it into an assessment. If no child is part of your day, practice an attentive openness to the world God has made. The point is to receive life with care. A child's present joys and concerns deserve attention before they become evidence of adult usefulness.
Adapted from chapter 12, “Childhood: Wonder,” in Becoming Fully Human by Dr. R. C. Titus.
Read the Scripture
Open each passage and read slowly. Notice a word, question, or invitation that asks for your attention.
Mark 10:13-16 · WEBU
13They were bringing to him little children, that he should touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who were bringing them.
14But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to me! Don’t forbid them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these.
15Most certainly I tell you, whoever will not receive God’s Kingdom like a little child, he will in no way enter into it.”
16He took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
Pause and respond
For reflection
How might I receive a child's present life more patiently instead of seeing only the adult I hope that child will become?
A practice for today
Give five unhurried minutes to a child's question or interest, when appropriate. If no child is present, observe something familiar carefully and thank God for what you notice.
A prayer
Jesus, you welcomed children with love. Shape our attention by your welcome. Give us patience for questions, wisdom for boundaries, and humility when we need help. Let the children in our communities receive protection and delight without having to earn their place. Amen.
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