Bible
Study: Ezekiel 18, 1 to 32. Matthew 19, 13 to 15.
Our Gospel
passage today reveals something so pure and so striking; the fact that God
wants the children to come to him and the fact that we have a tendency to
prevent children from coming close to God. Quite often, children are considered
as nuisance in the church. This is why they have the Sunday school session. However,
what efforts do we put in to ensure that what the children get during Sunday
school is actually something of value to the development of their Christian maturity?
It is not
uncommon to see parents heavily worried about which school their children
attends and they are not bothered about the cost of hiring private home tutors
for them. But when it comes to introducing our children to God, parents tend to
assume that it will happen naturally. They feel there is no need for any special
efforts on their part to ensure that their children come close to God. How often
do you hear parents hiring private home catechism teacher?
It is even
disturbing that some parents indirectly or unintentionally even become
obstacles to their children’s spiritual development. Too often, you find a
grown up adult preparing for marriage who was baptised as an infant but never
attended catechism class for first holy communion. There are some homes today
where daily prayers are missing. Some children do not know how to pray or sing because
it was not done at home.
The prophet
Ezekiel today tells us that we serve a God of justice. God is not going to
inflict punishment on children for the sins of their parents. If a man does what
is right, he is the one to receive the reward but if he does what is wrong, his
children will not be used to pay for his crimes. This means that the destiny of
a child is not tied to that of his parents. We have seen cases of very bad
fathers producing saintly children. Parents ought to be examples to their children
but should they fail in this regard, children must learn to chart their own
course in life, they must learn to know God and serve him with their heart.
Above all,
Ezekiel tells us today to repent. God takes no pleasure in the death of the
wicked but in their repentance. It is not God’s sole desire to punish us for
our sins. He created us and he wants us to live and be with him in heaven.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, may I not be an obstacle
to any child who wants to come to you. Amen.
Good morning. Be Happy. Live
Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. happy weekend.
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