The Kingdom of God 上帝的国
Dexu Xia
The kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Mark 10:14
My mother has been committed to many things over the course of her life, but one that has remained constant is her desire to see little children introduced to Jesus. Of the few times I’ve witnessed my mother display disagreement publicly, all were when someone attempted to cut a children’s ministry budget in favor of what they felt were more “serious” expenditures. “I took off one summer when I was pregnant with your brother, but that’s it,” she told me. I did a little family math and I realized my mom had been working with children in the church for fifty-five years.
Mark 10 records one of the endearing stories in the Gospels commonly titled “The Little Children and Jesus.” People were bringing children to Jesus that He might touch and bless them. But the disciples tried to prevent this from happening. Mark records Jesus as “indignant”—and rebuking His very own disciples: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (v. 14).
Charles Dickens wrote, “I love these little people; and it’s not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us.” And it’s not a slight thing when we, who are older, do all we can to make sure the little children are never hindered from the ever-fresh love of Jesus.
If you were introduced to Jesus as a child, who were the supporting adults in that memory? What kind of impression does Jesus being indignant in this story make on you?
Jesus, help me to reveal Your love and presence to all people, including children. Make me mindful of ways to ensure that they can always come to You.
在上帝国的，正是这样的人。—马可福音10章14节
我母亲一生为许多事投注心力，但其中最为坚持的一件事，就是要让孩童们认识耶稣。母亲不常公开表示不同的意见，但我看过的少数几次都是因为有人试图削减儿童事工的预算，去支付他们认为更“重要”的项目。她告诉我：“我只有在怀你弟弟的那年暑假，没有参与主日学的服事。”我算了一下，发现母亲在教会的儿童事工服事了长达55年之久。
马可福音10章记载了一个在福音书中受人喜爱的故事，人们常把这件事标题为“耶稣爱小孩”。人们把孩童带到耶稣那里，让耶稣触摸并且祝福他们，但门徒却试图阻止孩童亲近耶稣。马可描述耶稣就“恼怒”地责备门徒，说：“让小孩子到我这里来，不要禁止他们，因为在上帝国的，正是这样的人。”（14节）
作家查尔斯 · 狄更斯写道：“我爱这些小孩子，而且当这些孩童，就是这些从上帝而来的鲜活生命爱我们时，绝不是件微不足道的小事。”同样地，我们这些比孩子们年长的人，尽所能确保孩子不会被阻绝于耶稣恒久鲜活的爱之外，也绝不是件微不足道的小事。
若你在幼年时就已认识耶稣，
你还记得是谁带领你的吗？
这段圣经提到耶稣恼怒，对此你有何看法？
耶稣，求祢帮助我将祢的爱与同在，传达给所有人，
包括孩童。让我能运用各种方式，
确保孩童随时都能来到祢跟前。