It is Christmas. Over the next few days, people in many parts of the world will be celebrating the birth of the Saviour. This verse will be quoted as a prophecy of the birth of Jesus. But few will put it into the context of the time it was given.

The disciples were trying to protect Jesus from being bothered and distracted by the children. They were full of good intentions, but Jesus used those same children as a teaching aid! He was telling His listeners that they must become like children in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Following on from yesterday, we read about the first child of Abraham. Sarah herself must have been very depressed at not being able to conceive. But then she had the bright idea one day that she could use her maid-servant to conceive for her. This caused a lot of pain.

In most cases, a couple who have been together for a long time without children would be generally considered to have made that choice. But in Biblical times, a man was considered a failure if he did not have several children. In Genesis, God told Adam Be fruitful and multiply.

Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. The book of Ruth is one of tragedy and triumph. This baby was the triumph after several years of loneliness and mourning. We have to ask ourselves why Ruth could not conceive through her first husband who was the son of Naomi.

I have heard sermons on becoming like an innocent child, but Jesus does not say anything about innocence here. And most of us know children who were not too innocent for very long. Children can be quick to learn both good things and bad! Think today about your own childhood.

What was this mother thinking about to name her child pain, that is what Jabez means! Maybe his mother had other children which were not so painful, and this time the pain was exceptional! The two mentions of Jabez in the verses today are the only verses that mention him.

The closing verses of 2 Samuel 11 tell us that God was not happy with David. The next chapter gives us His thoughts and the consequences of the sin that David committed. Nathan the prophet directly accused David of his sin, but he did that by testing him with riddles!

One of the saddest things about the story of Hosea is that his wife, Gomer, did not become a righteous woman after their marriage. But the Lord was consistent. And each of the children from the union was called by a word which referred to a message from Almighty God.

Elisha was discussing with his servant one day and Gehazi suggested that the only thing this couple did not have was children. One quick prophetic word from this man of God was all it needed. Within a year she gave birth to a boy. What joy that must have been.