Woe to those through whom they come

Woe to those through whom they come

Scripture:

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. Matthew 18:6-9

Observation:

Imagine having a large millstone hung around your neck and being thrown into the sea. Or having your hand cut off. Or your foot. Or your eye gouged out! The Lord uses the strongest possible imagery to emphasize to His disciples that they must take His warning ever so seriously.

Little ones who believe in Jesus are serious business! We must make sure that we are not the ones who cause them to stumble! As parents or grandparents or uncles and aunties of young children, we have a heavy responsibility indeed. We can stumble them by our life’s example, not only by things we do, but by the things we don’t do. Our bad habits, our careless words, our attitude towards others and towards God! All these are so important, To neglect it would be akin to being flippant about the possibility of us drowning in the sea or having a limb cut off or eye gouged out. The Lord warns us to take teaching children very seriously indeed!

Woe to the world because of things that cause people to stumble! The world as a whole will be punished at the second coming by the fire of judgment. The mistreatment of the poor, the corruption of the young, the worship of mammon and false religion at the expense of every good thing… All these cause people to stumble, and the Lord confirms that such things must come. However, the Lord warns us that we must now allow these things to come through us.

Application:

Take some time to review our lives, and consider our conduct and witness we give to those around us, especially young children we interact with daily. Does anything we do stumble them? Ask the Lord for wisdom to determine which areas of our lives we need to change. Pray to the Lord to give us the strength and discipline to make courageous decisions to cut off certain things that are not of value and may in fact stumble others. Paul, in his writings, exhorted us to even forego certain things which although we are able to do perfectly with a clear conscience may stumble others with weaker faith. He resolved not to do anything, even eating or drinking in such a way that may stumble others.

Prayer:

We praise thee, Lord, for the children You have placed in our lives, our own sons and daughters, our nephews and nieces or even grandchildren. We thank thee, Lord, that they are precious in Your eyes. Teach us and help us, Lord, to be good examples to them and to others as well, that we may not stumble them, but instead turn them to You. Forgive us, Lord, where we have been selfish and insensitive, and stumbled others, even unconsciously. Help us to have an attitude like Paul’s, who resolved not to eat or say anything that could stumble others. Give us Your wisdom, and grasp Your urgency and importance of this matter. Blessed be Your holy name O Lord! In Jesus name, Amen.