Nurturing Children

Living in the Spirit
June 29, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:40-42

and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’ — Matthew 10: 42  

When you read this scripture notice the tit for tat that Jesus weaves through his instruction:

Welcoming Me—Welcomes God
Welcome a prophet in the name of a prophet—receive a prophet’s reward
Welcome a righteous person in the name of a righteous person—receive a righteous person’s reward

But note, the last one is different:

Give even a cup of water to a child in the name of a disciple—the children will not lose their reward

We are all as Disciples of Christ called to take responsibility for nurturing children and the reward for doing that is the children themselves. Water in some form or another is the one thing that is absolutely necessary for life. Children are the one thing that is absolutely necessary for the continuation of humanity. Yet:

  • 22% of children in the U.S. live in families that are considered officially poor.—National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University, nccp.org
  • Of all the 4th graders in the US, 1/3 could not read this sentence proficiently.—studentsfirst.org
  • A child is abused or neglected every 47 seconds. –childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/2014-soac.pdf
  • 8.2% of youth 12-17 experience depressive episodes each year.—childstate.gov

This is just a brief list of statistics. For more information see the various websites that are noted above.

We need to take Jesus plea for children to heart and give our children lives worth living.

Prayer: You sent your son into the world as a tiny baby and entrusted him to Mary and Joseph to nurture and love. Following in their footsteps, make us nurturers of all the children of the world. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.