Reason #1: Jesus Gives Kids A High Priority

Which letter of the alphabet does your last name start with?

If it’s A, your name will be toward the top of most lists, because names are often sorted in alphabetical order. If your last name starts with Z, you might be used to waiting for your name to be called out last!

Sometimes, though, the list gets flipped, and those who are last get to go first. Jesus often “flipped the list” when it came to valuing people.

For instance, his disciples didn’t think kids were very important, but Jesus had other ideas!

In today’s Bible reading, what did Jesus end up doing for the kids who were brought to him?

📚 The backstory: The disciples weren’t just being grumpy grown-ups when they tried to stop parents bringing their kids to Jesus. They were probably trying to guard his limited time for things THEY thought were more important, like preaching and healing people. In those days, most people didn’t give children a very high priority.

⁉️ Did he really? Did Jesus just tell his disciples to be more like… YOU?

In verse 15, Jesus encouraged his disciples to “receive the kingdom of God like a little child”. That means everyone should trust and depend on God, just like kids trust and depend on adults to take care of them.

Jesus “flipped the list”! To him, the kids weren’t any less important than the adults—in fact, kids had something to TEACH the adults!

💬 Words and actions: The thing about Jesus is, when he SAID something was important, he also followed it up with actions. When Jesus invited the children to come to him, he upgraded kids in importance. Then he made time to hug those random kids and bless them. That means he prayed especially for them.

I wonder if they realised how significant that moment was.

✉️ An open invitation: The invitation for children to come to Jesus is still open. You may already know this, but you don’t have to wait until you’re older, or until you know more of the Bible, or until you feel like you deserve it. Jesus loves each unique person, and invites us all to come to him, no matter how young or old we are. (And yes, that even includes your younger siblings!)

✏️ Prayer and picture prompt:

On a piece of paper, draw a picture frame. Then, draw a simple portrait of yourself in the frame. Write a prayer of thanks to Jesus for how much he loves and values kids, including you.