St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 19a; Those with child.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The destruction of Jerusalem) Part 5.  

Take nothing with you.  Run for your life if you are to be saved.  Don't turn back for anything, else you loose your life for death is at your heals.  Christ delivers a dire message to his disciples and to the people about the coming destruction of Jerusalem.  Everyone, all the Jews are praising their city, enjoying the sights and sounds of its beauty.  But not Christ.  He is warning the people of impending doom. 

Those who believe are shocked.  Those who disbelieve ignore, pass his prediction off as idle gossip from those who would spread fear.  The leaders and rulers of the people are terrified that this man who has captured the minds and hearts of the people is now spreading rumors of destruction of their great city.  It means ruin for their leadership.  And most horrified are those who are with child or children.  He is saying:  "But woe to those who are with child."

Women beware that you will suffer most because you are with child!  Death and destruction will find you first and foremost because you are unable to flee fast enough to outrun death.  You will be swallowed up by the oncoming horrors of destruction.  And the women know the truth of what the prediction means because they have seen and heard the meaning of tragedy and war.  Women are the possessions of destruction and those with child are ravaged the most.

Even today we see the loss of life due to natural disasters.  And those most vulnerable are the women and children especially those with child.   Floods and fires and hurricanes and storms and all kinds of natural disasters occur around the world in places where people live that do not have adequate means to prepare themselves for oncoming disasters.  Loss of life is precious, something that tears at our hearts when we see and hear of such in places in the world.

Christ was a sort of early warning system in those days in that he was telling the people what was coming that they might prepare themselves for the event.  The same as we have today, early warning systems that give us knowledge of impending doom that we might have minutes to escape death.  Even at the clutches of death though we must prepare ourselves daily thanking God for his precious gift of life and thanking him for the sacrifice made by Christ Jesus ,on the cross, to give us new life.  Believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and know that the promise of Christ is yours for the asking.  Death is but a door that we must all go through to transform ourselves to the true spirit of life that Christ has given us.  Know that it is yours for the asking, yours for the receiving, yours for the keeping that no one can take away.  Take the narrow path and God will be with you.  

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself.  Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 14a, Hinder not the children.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus blesses the children) Part 3.

So the children came.  They were brought to him that he might bless them and lay his hands on them.  This was a sight to see, the children in their playful nature around Christ, the savior.  They did not know him.  They heard their parents speaking of him.  They heard strangers and other people talking about him.  But now they had the opportunity to come close, to touch him, to be in his presence.  Oh, what a joy that must have been!

The disciples thought not.  They did not see him having time for little children.  He was the savior.  He was the Messiah.  He was the Lord of all, yet he had time to play with the little children.  They did not understand.  They did not know.  For the disciples and all the others considered that he had other things to do, other things to think about, other problems to solve.  Yet he had time for the little ones.  But Jesus said to them, "Let the little children be, and do not hinder them from coming to me."

Do not hinder them.  Let them be.  Do not disturb them.  Let them play, let them have fun, let them see the world through their eyes, fresh and anew.  For they are the little ones, precious in the eyes of God our Father.  They are the innocent ones, uncorrupted by the influences of the world and of evil.  Their light is bright, new and fresh from the tree of life.  Do not stop them from coming to the light of their creation.  Christ loved the little ones.  He knew them before they were conceived into the flesh and he adored them in their new spirit.

His love was the love of the Father.  His love is the love of a brother.  His love for the little ones is the love of all creation, an all-consuming love.  But the world does not love the little ones.  The world does not know their light.  The world wants to hinder them.  The world wants to turn them away from the light and turn them to the darkness.  For they are the precious ones in the eyes of God.  They are loved.  They are adored.  They are new.  Hinder not the little ones.  

When they are born into the world our hearts are filled with love for them.  When they are first conceived our lives are changed, at least for those who know and who understand God's plan and purpose.  For some it does not bring change.  For some they bring a feeling of a burden upon their lives, they not knowing the joy that will come.  So they turn away from the new life that is given them.  They turn away from the gift of life that is passed on to them.  They do not know the love, the protection, and the provision of the Father that awaits them through this new life.  And then there are those who would hinder the plans of the Father from coming forth, they destroy the new life.  All brought forth through the fear that comes from evil.

Do not hinder the little ones, Christ told his disciples.  Let them be.  Give them the freedom brought forth through God's plan and purpose.  Theirs is the gift of love.  Theirs is the promise of hope.  Theirs is the joy of innocence.  See the world through their eyes and rejoice in their passing back to the Father.  For the transition is a joyous time.  The transition is a time of happiness.  The transition is a time of love for those who have gone to be with the Father.  And the little ones will go without the taint of sin or corruption.  Hinder not the little ones and let them be with the one who gave them life.  For Christ rejoiced in seeing them that his sacrifice would have purpose, his sacrifice would have meaning, his sacrifice would mean love for these little ones who were new from the tree of live.  

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.