The Lord Jesus is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the Creator of the universe. Yet, during His earthly ministry, the Lord made it known that He cared for the “little ones” (Matthew 18:6, 10, 14). Perhaps the disciples thought the Master would be too busy or have more important things to do than to take time for the children. The Lord rebuked His disciples for such erroneous thinking. After all, the Lord loved children and wanted them to come to Him. It grieved Him to think that His disciples would forbid any child from coming to Him. Even now, the Lord wants little children to come to Him. No disciple should ever forbid children to come to the Lord. Even with all of life’s distractions, the Bible admonishes young people to remember their Creator in the days of their youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
During the first century, hard times had come upon the believers in Jerusalem. Some specific time of trial, persecution, or tribulation had put them in a difficult situation. The Bible offers specific guidance as to when to assist others who have fallen on hard times.Believers in other cities saw the need and determined to make “a certain contribution for the poor saints” at Jerusalem (Romans 15:26). This contribution was either a monetary donation or a material contribution as the Bible says the assistance was “in carnal things” (Romans 15:27). Today, this would be akin to one body of believers assisting another body of believers, or one individual assisting another individual. Whatever the case, we ought to help others when a real need arises and it is in our power to assist them.
