Daily Affirmations - Day 5 - Are You Able? - Bring Them In
- Alisa B.
- Apr 10
- 2 min read
Day 5: Bring them in
Then people brought little children to Jesus... But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:13-14).
O Lord, You gave Your word, All those the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away (John 6:37). And You have shown us Your willingness to embrace all who come to You— by whatever means or introduction, by whatever intervention or conveyance.
"Come and see," You invited intrigued followers of John the Baptist. And they in turn, created a widening circle of introductions— Andrew, his brother, Simon Peter; Philip, his friend Nathanael; Levi, a dinner party of "tax collectors and sinners" (Mark 2:13-15). And
some time later, when a Samaritan woman echoed the words, "Come and see," an entire town came to know... the Savior of the world (John 4:28-30, 39-42).
Not one did You shun or turn away from— not one of these; nor a woman who hid in a crowd to touch the edge of Your cloak (Luke 2:42-48); or another dragged before You by a stone-throwing mob (John 8:2-11). Nor did You overlook a socially-despised tax collector who climbed a fig tree to see You (Luke 19:1-10), or a perplexed member of the Jewish ruling council who came to You at night with deep and troubling questions (John 3:1-21).
You embraced them all, and countless others too numerous to mention— among them a paralyzed man lowered on a mat by friends, amidst a roof ruckus of debris and displaced tiles (Mark 2:1-12); two blind man following You and calling out for mercy (Matthew 9:27-31); a foreigner from Canaan so irritatingly persistent that the disciples begged, "Send her away for she keeps crying out after us." (But far from sending her away, You commended her persistent, undaunted faith and healed her daughter as she had asked) (Matthew 15:21-28).
And neither did You forget the children, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them," You chided as the disciples defaulted to their "send away" impulses. With this one instruction You decisively broke down all barriers to entry into Your presence and into Your kingdom— not just for the little ones, but for all who change and become like little children (Matthew 18:3). For the kingdom of heaven belong to such as these (Matthew 19:14).
Lord, forgive us for our categories and our compartments, our hierarchies and our partialities. Who are we, but grateful recipients of Your grace? Help us to stop passing judgment on one another [and] instead, make up [our] mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister (Romans 14:13).
You turn no one away who comes to You. Help us to bring them with our prayers, our gestures of compassion, our acts of love.
Bring them in, Bring them in
Bring them in from the fields of sin
Bring them in, Bring them in
Bring the wand'ring ones to Jesus
~ Alexcenah Thomas ~ 1885
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