Leading Littles To Jesus

In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the Bible tells us that parents and caregivers brought their young children to Jesus. Many families heard about the fame of Jesus throughout the land and brought their sick and lame to be healed by Him. Some of these families also brought their children to be blessed by Jesus.

In each account of the story recounted in Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 10:13-16 and Luke 18:15-17, Jesus’ disciples rebuke the parents and caregivers for bringing their young children to Jesus. They simply did not think Jesus had time to be concerned about little children.

Jesus was very displeased and chastised the disciples. He told them not to prevent the little ones from coming to Him. Jesus said that unless a person receives the kingdom of God humbly like a little child, that person will not inherit the kingdom of God. Then Jesus laid hands on the children and blessed them. Jesus made it very clear that young children are important to Him because they are part of God’s kingdom.

Despite the fact that little ones are the greatest in the kingdom of God, oftentimes many Christian parents act just like Jesus’ disciples did in the story. They exclude littles from worship and bible study and encourage them to play. Some parents think their children are too young to develop a meaningful relationship with Jesus.

Some parents think that discipleship is for teenagers and young adults but not little ones. They may think that little ones are too young to understand the concept of sin or may think Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead are too difficult to explain to a toddler.

As a mother your first ministry and service to God begins in your home. Before you can evangelize in a local church or lead people outside of your home to Jesus, you need to serve God within your own home. Leading Littles to Jesus is your primary ministry.

God has entrusted these Little ones to you in this season for this reason. It is His Will that you lead your Littles to know Him through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. That’s because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just for adults but it’s for Littles too.

3 Ways To Lead Littles to Jesus

1. The best way to lead Littles to Jesus is by example. When you pray, hold your Littles close and include them in the prayer. When you worship God and sing songs of praise, let Littles join you and praise Him with instruments. Plan and make time to read to your Littles from a children’s Bible daily. Live out the teachings of Jesus Christ daily and obey God’s commandments. When your Littles see you doing these things they will naturally follow your example.

1. Teach children about the kingdom of God through parables. Although big concepts like faith, sin, repentance and salvation seem impossible to explain to Littles, it’s actually not hard at all. When Jesus taught people about the kingdom of God he used parables or earthly stories with heavenly meanings. These parables were so simple even a child could understand. Read parables from a children’s Bible. Sing simple songs about the parables Jesus taught.

2. Teach children the Good News about Jesus by sharing it with them often. Tell Littles how Jesus came down from heaven to be born like us, to live among us and ultimately die on the cross for our sins. Tell them about how powerful his resurrection is and how it helps us who follow Jesus to live a new life. Read the Good News story to Littles. Listen to sound YouTube stories for kids about the Good News and sing songs about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.