Verse 34  Can you imagine?  Arguing about who is greatest!  (The disciples seem so slowly to “catch on”, don’t they?  And then I think of myself, my lack of faith, and I say: “I’m so slow to catch on, too!” )  “Jesus loves the little children”, we sing.  And He does!  Consider the references in the Gospels of Jesus and the children.  Jesus says to us:  “Don’t you dare cause a child to fall into sin!”  Our lives – our examples – are important to children, aren’t they.  Notice the times in our New Testament Gospel readings we read words about 2 ways of living – 2 destinations – the choice that needs to be made by each of us.  Our forefathers sometimes put it bluntly in these words:  “Heaven to gain.  Hell to shun.”  The old preacher said it like this:  “The Lord has voted for you.  The devil has voted against you.  Now you get to cast the decisive vote!”  Chapter 10:1-12.  You may find it helpful to keep a Bible map handy while you are reading the New Testament this year.  It helps to “follow” the footsteps of Jesus as He helped, healed, taught the people.  At times it seems that peoples motives were sort of “mixed” when they quizzed Jesus.  Did they really want to know His answers to their questions?  Or did they want to “trap Him” into saying something which could be used against Him?  v. 2-12  Jesus spoke clearly of the plan of God for marriage . . . speaking of its divine purpose and plan of the heavenly Father . . . the unity of man and woman in marriage as a life-long commitment.  What does this say to a society like ours?  What price must we pay for failure to do it “God’s way”?  Lord, help, our marriages to bring glory to Your Holy Name.  Amen

 

Don Pardun