One of these little ones

And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.  – Mark 9.42

All through the gospels we see that children held a special place in the heart of our Saviour. No wonder C.H. Woolston wrote these words at the turn of the 20^th century:

Jesus loves the little children,

All the children of the world;

Red and yellow, black and white,

They are precious in his sight.

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

He called the little children to sit on His lap. He used their simple faith as an illustration of true faith. Over and over He points to little children in His preaching.

Here is tells how precious they are.  His views are children are pretty clear. We had better be careful that we treat them right. ‘If any one of you offends one of this children you would be better of having a millstone tied around your neck and them be cast into sea.’

But there is a key part to this that we can miss. He is talking about those who offend ‘any of these little ones who believe in Me.’ Those of us who put our faith in Christ are His children and He sees us with the same preciousness that He sees the real little children. God loves us as His kids and wants us protected. He says that He is going to deal with our enemies. He desires that all would come to Him, but the world will be judged on how it treats us.

We have his protection.