Amber Alert
An amber alert is sounded. The police are activated. The alert appears on tv screens, phones, news outlets, and on traffic signs along the main highways. Those first few moments are a critical time. They could mean the difference between finding the child and never seeing the child again.
Amber alerts were designed to protect the weakest among us. Children can wander away and become lost. They can be lured away by someone else and be lost. They can also be kidnapped even sometimes by estranged families. Regardless of the source of their disappearance, these children are in danger and we should rally our forces to secure their safety again.
While children are the most vulnerable among us, they are also some of the most important among us. They represent the future of a society. They will become, in large part, what we raise them to be. That, in turn, will affect the society making it a reflection of who they are.
Therefore, Jesus said, “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6). The children must be protected! Jesus has sounded an amber alert for any child who might be damaged. And, it must be a serious offense in His mind for Him to pass on a death sentence to the future offender.
His statement is interesting in these words, “these little ones who believe in Me…” Children seem to have an innate sense in the existence of God. God planted that sense within them (Ecclesiastes 3:11). It is our responsibility to nurture that sense in a way that leads to a life of faith.
Jesus’ amber alert came in response to His disciples’ question, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” They might have expected Him to point to their function as His apostles as the most important. They might have thought it should be determined by who provides the greatest benefit to the kingdom at the moment. Whatever they thought the answer was going to be, the answer they received was probably not the one they thought it would be.
Jesus set a child in the midst of them and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.” (Matthew 18:3-4). The greatest in the kingdom are the least among us—those who are childlike.
These who represent the greatest in the kingdom—those with childlike faith—must be given proper attention and help. They depend on us to show them who Jesus really is. We must add to their God-given, innate sense of Him with the details that will bring them to spiritual maturity.
— Mike Johnson
