Jesus said to his followers, “Things that cause people to sin will happen, but how terrible for the person who causes them to happen! 2 It would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large stone around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 So be careful! Luke 17:1-3 NCV
Today is one week away from Election Day and honestly I can’t wait for these commercials to be over. I don’t watch mainstream tv stations often, but when I do, there seems to be nothing else to advertise. But, it has increased my prayer life, because instead of listening to them I pray for the people in them, the message and the listeners, that the veil of any deception be uncovered and the truth be revealed. It also brought to mind today’s verse because its meaning is much deeper and father extending than most of us were taught.
As Jesus begins to speak, He makes His point pretty clear about what will happen to a person who causes someone to sin. But then He becomes very intense with how grave the consequences are, because of who they led into trouble. The two little words “little ones” in Greek can change the entire meaning. It is the word micros, from where we get the English word micro, meaning small of size: hence of stature, of length of space, of age: less by birth, younger, of time: short, brief, a little while, how little!, of quantity: i.e. number, amount, of rank or influence.
In this instance Jesus was using it in reference to not only literal little children, but also those who are young in the faith and the vulnerable or marginalized in society who can be easily led astray. I can’t help but think about the children of this nation and those who are easily intimidated and manipulated with fear. I remember having a carefree life as a child, running, playing and laughing and not having to worry about anything, even if there was something to be worried about. But we can no longer say that about a lot of this nations children, they fear going to school that they might get shot and killed, they no longer hear the truth about our founding fathers, they are indoctrinated with distorted history and are seeing, experiencing and making decisions on things that are not age appropriate for children to experience of see. Even for older children who are not mature enough to make life altering decisions are being coerced into making them.
We need to pray for the protection of our most precious asset, our children and their parents. The family was created by God as a place of nurturing and safety, yet we have gotten so far off the path from what He ever intended for us. So let’s pray with mountain moving faith so our children can be children and grow up to knowing the love and grace of Jesus so they can show the way to the next generation if Christ should tarry.
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