August 20 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Matthew 21:1-17:

¹And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
²Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.
³And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
⁴All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
⁵Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
⁶And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,
⁷And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
⁸And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.
⁹And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
¹⁰And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
¹¹And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
¹²And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
¹³And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
¹⁴And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.
¹⁵And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased,
¹⁶And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
¹⁷And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.

Devotional

In this meditation I would like to talk to God's little children. There are many children in the families that belong to God's Church. God is the God of father and mother, but He is also the God of their children. God calls them "my children." Not only to the parents, but also to their children, God has promised his blessings, and Jesus wants the little children to come unto him. He says, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God."

Dear children, how rich you are! God is your Father, and Jesus Christ has bought you with his precious blood. With body and soul you belong to him. And He gives you his kingdom with all its riches. He makes all things work together for your good. He does not want any harm to come to you. He says, if any one would offend one of the little ones, that believe on him, it would be better that he should be drowned in the sea. Blessed indeed are you, if you have been taught to believe the truths of God's Word from babyhood on. How wonderful that even little children can praise God, and that such praise is plea­sing to God. Yea, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings God accepts perfect praise. Therefore, children, sing praises to God, sing praises now and for ever!

Prayer

O God our Father, we thank Thee that we know that Thou art our God, and also the God of our children; that we have Thy precious promises, which are yea in him and Amen in him. We thank Thee that Thou hast promised Thy grace not only to us, but also to our children: that we have the assurance that our children have forgiveness of sin and eternal life through the blood of Christ. Help us to teach our children aright, that they may early learn and believe the truths, as revealed in Thy Word. May we with our children show ourselves thankful for so great salvation. Help us to show forth Thy praises in our words and works. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Ezek. 16:2; Acts 2:39; Mark 10:14; Rom. 8:28; Matt. 18:6; 2 Tim. 3:15; Matt. 21:16.

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