Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer for the little ones is heard and it reflects the heart of God Himself. Scripture is clear that children are a heritage from the Lord, precious in His sight, and Jesus as the Good Shepherd stands to shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord. As Micah declares, His people will dwell securely because His greatness reaches to the ends of the earth, and as the Psalms and the prophets show, He carries the lambs close to His heart, leading, feeding and comforting them with His rod and His staff so fear is driven away.
The Lord Jesus gave a most solemn warning that no one should cause one of these little ones to stumble, saying it would be better for that person to have a millstone hung around his neck and be drowned, and He added that we must not despise even one of them, for their angels always behold the face of the Father in heaven. That tells us how personally and constantly God watches over them. He also gives us the way to guard them, that from their youth they should know the Holy Scriptures which are able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ, and that the love of God shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit will anchor them.
A prudent person sees evil coming and takes refuge, while the simple go on and suffer for it. Our refuge is the provision God has made through Jesus Christ. In Him we are hidden from judgment and from the power of evil. Part of that prudence is how we raise and guard children. God has said to train up a child in the way he should go, and that training involves steady instruction in wisdom and knowledge, feeding them on His Word and on the truth of His love shown in Christ.
That prudence also means staying far from evil people and evil ways. The wisdom writings urge us not to share the bread of a person whose mind is set on evil, not because of any superstition about a look or a hex, but because that person is inwardly perverse and bent toward harm. We are told to avoid the path of such people altogether, not to go near it, to turn from it and pass on. They are described as those who cannot rest unless they have done mischief, who speak perverse things and leave the upright path to walk in darkness. We are to put away perverse speech, keep our eyes looking straight ahead, ponder the path of our feet, and remove our foot from evil. The Lord promises to deliver His people from that way.
History shows how seriously God takes the protection of the innocent. In ancient times pagan nations sacrificed their own children in fire according to detestable practices, and God as the righteous judge used His people to put an end to that cruelty because He would not allow the innocent to be destroyed without answer. When His own people later forsook Him and did evil again and again, they turned aside to other gods and followed the statutes of those nations, and judgment came upon them. The lesson remains that if we allow what is evil to remain close to our children, to mix and influence them, it will turn hearts away from God. Therefore we are to keep them from that influence and keep ourselves from it as well.
Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked, for there is no lasting reward for the evil person and they will be cut off. Those who try to use religious forms as a charm, as if outward things could protect them while their hearts remain corrupt, will find no safety in that. True safety is in fearing the Lord and departing from evil, which brings health and life, and in honoring Him.
So we join you in asking the Father in the name and authority of Jesus, to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given, to keep His hand upon your youngster, his cousins, nieces and nephews, friends, and all the children among fellow believers. We ask Him to give His angels charge over them, for the angel of the Lord camps around those who fear Him, and the angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. We ask Him to strengthen parents and all who care for children to watch faithfully as shepherds of the flock of God and to guard the little ones from wolves, from evil people and impostors, even when such people appear as ministers. Where any young heart has been hurt, we ask Him to heal and to pour His love into that heart through the Holy Spirit, and to strengthen them to know the breadth and length and depth and height of His love.
We pray that He would draw the weary and heavy laden to Jesus, whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light, that they may find rest for their souls. We submit ourselves to God and resist the enemy, trusting the promise that he will flee, and we put on the armor of God that minds and bodies may be kept from the evil one. We ask that He would work all things according to the counsel of His will and work all things together for good, and that He would cause even hard things to serve the furtherance of the gospel, for the church which Christ builds upon the confession that He is the Messiah will prevail and the gates of hell shall not overcome it. We thank Him in advance, trusting His Word, and ask all this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
The Lord Jesus gave a most solemn warning that no one should cause one of these little ones to stumble, saying it would be better for that person to have a millstone hung around his neck and be drowned, and He added that we must not despise even one of them, for their angels always behold the face of the Father in heaven. That tells us how personally and constantly God watches over them. He also gives us the way to guard them, that from their youth they should know the Holy Scriptures which are able to make them wise for salvation through faith in Christ, and that the love of God shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit will anchor them.
A prudent person sees evil coming and takes refuge, while the simple go on and suffer for it. Our refuge is the provision God has made through Jesus Christ. In Him we are hidden from judgment and from the power of evil. Part of that prudence is how we raise and guard children. God has said to train up a child in the way he should go, and that training involves steady instruction in wisdom and knowledge, feeding them on His Word and on the truth of His love shown in Christ.
That prudence also means staying far from evil people and evil ways. The wisdom writings urge us not to share the bread of a person whose mind is set on evil, not because of any superstition about a look or a hex, but because that person is inwardly perverse and bent toward harm. We are told to avoid the path of such people altogether, not to go near it, to turn from it and pass on. They are described as those who cannot rest unless they have done mischief, who speak perverse things and leave the upright path to walk in darkness. We are to put away perverse speech, keep our eyes looking straight ahead, ponder the path of our feet, and remove our foot from evil. The Lord promises to deliver His people from that way.
History shows how seriously God takes the protection of the innocent. In ancient times pagan nations sacrificed their own children in fire according to detestable practices, and God as the righteous judge used His people to put an end to that cruelty because He would not allow the innocent to be destroyed without answer. When His own people later forsook Him and did evil again and again, they turned aside to other gods and followed the statutes of those nations, and judgment came upon them. The lesson remains that if we allow what is evil to remain close to our children, to mix and influence them, it will turn hearts away from God. Therefore we are to keep them from that influence and keep ourselves from it as well.
Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked, for there is no lasting reward for the evil person and they will be cut off. Those who try to use religious forms as a charm, as if outward things could protect them while their hearts remain corrupt, will find no safety in that. True safety is in fearing the Lord and departing from evil, which brings health and life, and in honoring Him.
So we join you in asking the Father in the name and authority of Jesus, to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given, to keep His hand upon your youngster, his cousins, nieces and nephews, friends, and all the children among fellow believers. We ask Him to give His angels charge over them, for the angel of the Lord camps around those who fear Him, and the angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. We ask Him to strengthen parents and all who care for children to watch faithfully as shepherds of the flock of God and to guard the little ones from wolves, from evil people and impostors, even when such people appear as ministers. Where any young heart has been hurt, we ask Him to heal and to pour His love into that heart through the Holy Spirit, and to strengthen them to know the breadth and length and depth and height of His love.
We pray that He would draw the weary and heavy laden to Jesus, whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light, that they may find rest for their souls. We submit ourselves to God and resist the enemy, trusting the promise that he will flee, and we put on the armor of God that minds and bodies may be kept from the evil one. We ask that He would work all things according to the counsel of His will and work all things together for good, and that He would cause even hard things to serve the furtherance of the gospel, for the church which Christ builds upon the confession that He is the Messiah will prevail and the gates of hell shall not overcome it. We thank Him in advance, trusting His Word, and ask all this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
