Mark 10:13 – And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.

Mark 10:14 – But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Mark 10:15 – Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

Mark 10:16 – And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

Hello readers, I’ve been thinking about when Jesus said “Suffer the little children to come unto me”. Because what Jesus taught here has been violated very badly in our generation, and instead of suffering them to come, children have been turned away from Jesus Christ from a young age. And they rarely come back from that, as it’s much easier to get saved when you’re younger than when you are older and harder of heart “Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth”.

But it’s not that people don’t know something of the Bible, rather it’s what they have been taught and told has fallen so far short of what they needed to be taught and told. As children who have become adults now, they were never equipped with truth, they were pandered to and patronized and mollycoddled… and this world out there was quick to steal their hearts from God. And I see men and women now as adults talk about the Bible and it’s so clear that although there is some level of familiarity, there were critical failures early by perhaps even well meaning people with a Bible.

What I have found incredible is that most people have more familiarity with the Bible than you think. As the Bible says in Romans 10:8 “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart…” And they know Noah’s flood, David and Goliath and Daniel in the lion’s den and so on. But all those stories were never more than stories. They were never contextualized in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so those stories they grew up and rejected. This fairy floss bits and pieces of the Bible Christianity has not cut it. And rather than talking about real things, church was a religious game, and when children grow up, many forsake religious games.

As I’ve talked to people, many of them heard Bible stories or were taught Bible or went to church as a kid… but now they’re very far away from all that now. They put all that “childishness” behind them a long time ago. Children’s fairytales they call the Bible. They look back on it as foolishness. They’ve grown out of it. It’s interesting, because we are meant to grow out of childish things, but the childish thing shouldn’t be the Bible. Bible is childish to them, but their sin isn’t. How is the Bible childish to them when it is the word of truth, the book of books, and the word of life? And I do wonder about where it all went wrong. How could they not just turn away from truth, and now be standing against the truth? But we do know the answers. It’s because Christianity is pretty childish these days. It’s petty, it’s empty, it’s superficial, it’s veneer and it’s powerless.

And I’ve talked to people who say I only believe in the Bible because I was raised that way. They don’t even know that for certain, but this is just a very common argument the atheist and agnostic makes. But when you think about it, it makes no sense. How you were raised does not change the merit of what you were taught. For example, I was raised that murder was wrong. I was raised that stealing was wrong. I was raised that adultery is wrong. So are they only wrong because I was raised that way? Or are they in fact… wrong? The answer is they are wrong.

And this line of argument is really just them calling me stupid as well, because it’s saying I can’t make decisions for myself or you for yourself. It is really ironic as well, because to say you only believe things because you were taught that way is the common argument of people who were raised with the Bible who now oppose the Bible. See the irony? They disprove their own argument with the proof of their own life. If they only believed things because they were taught that way… they wouldn’t now be opposing what they supposedly believed as a child.

The truth is, I’ve never given “suffer the little children” too much thought. Maybe because I don’t have my own children yet. And there are layers of truth to what Jesus said, because the little ones he spoke of here in Mark and also in Matthew are both physical children and also children in the faith. We all better be very careful about the influence we are having on both, because these are young innocent minds taking first steps in life, and God does not take kindly to people interfering with physical or spiritual children. There are a lot of stumblingblocks being put before children these days, and God is keeping good records.

As I’ve thought about “suffer the little children”, I’ve realized that they have no been suffered to come to him. Even in churches. Even in families. Even in homes. I’ve met person after person who has clearly had exposure to the Bible, yet it did not produce any faith or salvation to adulthood. What’s happened is that the children were not actually brought to Christ. They were never in his arms, and they never had his hand on their lives. Those children were brought to childish religion, and they rejected that childish religion when they grew up. I’m not saying that’s always the case, because some kids just walk away when parents did all they could… but much of the time, I realize that the children who are adults now were never taught anything substantial which is what faith is. Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Children didn’t hang on to what they were given, many times because it wasn’t worth hanging on to. How can you impart the immense value of the gospel to your children? But whatever was imparted to them, it wasn’t Biblical faith. And now you see these adults commenting on the Bible and making arguments which shows they never had a sound Bible teaching which would have given them the answers they look for now. Children need answers, the Bible has the answers… but the Christians don’t have the answers anymore because they’ve forsaken the Bible. And they grow up with a form of religion that has no life, no power, and no answers. And now they think it’s stupid, because this world offers them answers… not the right answers… but answers they think make more sense.

You can study the lives of even the most prominent people in our world, and they know some Bible or a lot of Bible. Yet they’ll say stupid stuff like “I can’t believe in a God who allows all this evil, death, pain and suffering to happen”. Because it is a decent question in one sense, you’re taught God is good and all powerful, and yet you see all this horrible stuff going on. And they never had someone make sense of it to them. The Bible easily answers that and many more sentiments… yet Christians have no answers that satisfied the growing and hungry soul. They literally have nothing to offer… and that’s what Jesus talked about in another scripture about salt that has lost his saltness, and when the salt has lost it’s salt you’re not worth your salt, you’re good for nothing.

I’ve read so many quotes of people who make their case against Christianity, and it just shows they have no idea what the Bible teaches or who Jesus is. They were never taken to Christ. And if you don’t suffer the little children to come to him, they will reject your crappy version of religion in the end for something better. From a young age, many children are turned away by incompetent and unfaithful idiots claiming to be called Christians. Whatever they heard from the Bible, it was never skillfully tied together in the gospel of Christ. I think of that eunuch reading Isaiah who Phillip went to and kindly explained what it all meant… children don’t need childishness, they’re smarter than you think, and they need an opening of the word to them, as do we all.

If you keep the Bible and the gospel of Christ back from children, you are not suffering them to come to Jesus Christ. And that’s happening right now. The next generations have come through, and they’ve had even less exposure to the Bible. In schools now, there is no Bible or God. There is evolution and sex education that perverts their developing minds, and children don’t even know what is a boy or girl anymore. That is going to affect them right into adulthood. They’re being taken further and further from the truth. And these children as a result are lost, in darkness, unhappy, unfulfilled, depressed and confused. Yeah sure, they enjoy some of the seasonal pleasures of sin, but by and large, they grow into adults without answers and without light and without hope in this world.

So much of our adulthood ties back to our childhood. Childhood is critical, that’s why the attack against God is in earnest in schools. Why are the drag queens in there? Why is all the sex education and gender confusion in there? Why did the sodomites want to be married? Even straight people don’t value marriage anymore, why did they want it so bad? Same sex marriage was about access to children, to get the same rights as traditionally married husband and wife couples. That’s not hate speech, that’s the truth, hate on the truth. Why is every degenerate doctrine and theory in schools now? Why are children taught they come from a monkey as fact? Why are they told that they are highly evolved animals who are a product of billions of years of outhunting, outraping, outkilling, outsurviving and outwitting everything else. Why do they grow up without meaning or purpose beyond existing to gratify base desires? Satan has always wanted the children, it’s a theme of the Bible that Satan wants your kids. He’ll get them if you don’t bring them to Christ. No third option. Remember that one of Pharaoh’s compromises he offered to Moses was oh okay you can all go, but leave your kids with me, I’ll take care of them.

Taking children to Jesus Christ isn’t like letting children sit on Santa’s lap. Sitting on Santa’s lap is a mockery of Jesus Christ. If you don’t suffer them to come to Christ, maybe instead you’ll pass them through the fire of Molech. There were a lot of children in his arms all through Israel’s history. The battle for children rages on. But the blessing of God on your life will come from growing up with a saving faith in Jesus Christ. No, you can’t get saved for them… but you can bring them to him. Jesus blessed these children, but not before he had to rebuke his disciples to get out of the way. How many supposedly godly men and women are in the way of children coming to Christ? If you are in the way, get out of the way.

And I’ve talked about how critical childhood is, well look, if you yourself don’t become as a child… you are not getting in. No single person went to heaven without coming to Jesus Christ as a little child. What does that mean? It takes childlike trust and obedience to enter the kingdom of God. God has made it so that we are saved by grace through faith. It will come down to faith, a faith that is based not blind, a faith that is firm and founded instead of faltering. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came with childlike faith to Jesus Christ. He realized he knew nothing at all, despite being elite by worldly standards. Until you can leave all your wisdom and opinions and know betters behind, you ain’t coming to Christ.

“Suffer the little children to come unto me” Jesus Christ said. If you are in the way, you are in big trouble with God. Jesus made that very clear. The best thing you can do for your child is introduce them to the Light of the world. Why deny heaven from them. Why deny truth from them. Why deny them their Creator? If you are a parent, you will be accountable for whether you prevented your children from Christ or pointed them to Christ. Will you condemn them to a life of sin, following your footsteps? Will they live in your image, or in God’s image? Adam had a son called Cain in his image… look how he turned out. I’d rather they take on Christ’s image than my sinful image. Even if you are a spiritual father, you want them to be transformed into Christ’s image, not your image. That’s what Paul wanted for his son in the faith. How about bring the little ones to Christ, he will bless their lives with grace and light and mercy and truth. He will be with them when you can’t, he will forgive them and save them when you can’t. They’ll have the answers and real hope in this lost and dying world.

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