Faith of a Child

Thanks for joining us for today's encouragement from the Our Daily Bread devotional. Our reading, titled Faith of a Child, was written by Katira Patton. As our adopted granny lay in her hospital bed after suffering several strokes, her doctors were unsure of the amount of brain damage she had endured. They needed to wait until she was a bit better to test her brain function.

She spoke very few words, and even fewer were understandable. But when the 86-year-old woman who had babysat my daughter for 12 years saw me, she opened her parched mouth and asked, How is Kayla? The first words she spoke to me were about my child, whom she had loved so freely and fully. Jesus loved children too, and put them in the forefront even though his disciples disapproved. Some parents would seek out Christ and present their children to Him. He chose to bless the children as He placed His hands on them. But not everyone was happy that He was blessing little ones.

The disciples scolded the parents and asked them to quit bothering Jesus. But He intervened and said, Let the little children come to Me. He called them an example of how we should receive God's kingdom with simple dependence, trust, and sincerity.

Young children rarely have a hidden agenda. What you see is what you get. As our Heavenly Father helps us regain childlike trust, may our faith and dependence on Him be as open as a child's. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Luke chapter 18 verses 15 through 17. People were also bringing babies to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to Him and said, Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Truly, I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. Let's pray. Father, help us to be as open and sincere as a child, as we trust You with our lives. Help us to grow more dependent on You each and every day. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Toni Collier, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.