In Jesus’ day, the practice of bringing children to be blessed by well-respected teachers was common. Jesus’ reputation as an excellent teacher had spread, so parents flocked to him with their children. Yet the disciples viewed this practice as an unwelcome disruption. Jesus was too important to be bothered, they felt. Jesus, however, rebuked their attitude. He was never too busy to welcome those others might overlook. Note what he told his disciples, “People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom” (Matthew 19.14b).

Many adults have the “children should be seen and not heard” mentality when it comes to children. Like the disciples, they consider children a nuisance rather than a blessing. But Jesus modeled grace and love.

See Matthew 19:13-15

Reflect:

How do your recent actions reflect your attitude toward children? If you had been present during the incident recorded in the Gospel according to Matthew, how would you have responded to Jesus’ disciples?

Live it:

You don’t have to have children of your own in order to pray for a child. Pray for the children of relatives, friends, and those in your community. Also, consider how you can help children in need in various parts of the world.

Pray:

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of children: their singing, laughter, enthusiasm, energy, loyalty, and love.

Next: Day 8 of 40

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Built into the Law of Moses were practical ways to help those in need. Whenever crops were harvested, the people of Israel were commanded to leave some of the grain behind, particularly the grain that fell to the ground. This allowed the poor to glean—to gather the leftover grain.

In the United States we throw away over 30 million tons of food every year. Approximately a third of all the food in our shopping cart or what we order in restaurants will never see the inside of our stomachs. It will be scraped into trash cans or will just sit in a dark corner of the fridge until, years beyond its sell-by date, it starts to evolve into an entirely new life form.

Leviticus shows us a different way to deal with unwanted food. It was not to be wasted, but put to good use. When he fed the 5,000, Jesus collected the leftovers, too, so they could be given away (Mark 6.34–44). See Leviticus 19:9-10.

Reflect:

Why do you think God gave his people the responsibility of providing for those in need, rather than miraculously providing for them? What is God asking you to “leave behind” for the poor? A portion of your paycheck? Your food? Your time?

Live it:

Invite someone to dinner who may have trouble making ends meet. Find out what it costs to feed a family for a week in another part of the world. Send that amount to a charity that provides for the poor in that country.

Pray:

Lord, thank you for rain on the hills, grass for cattle, plants for our food, grain for our health, oil for our skin and sweet fruit to cheer us up. All this comes from you, Lord God, for all of us to share.

Next: Day 6 of 40

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