Lesson Fifty

JESUS’ LOVE FOR EVERYONE

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Memory Verse: Matthew 15:28
Further Study: Matthew 15:21-39; Mark 7:24-8:10; Desire of Ages, pp. 399-409; The Bible Story, vol. 8, pp. 19-21

Babies change everything. If you’ve been following this devotional series, you’re aware my daughter recently gave birth to her first child. At exactly 10:18 a.m. on a day in 2023, her life changed. While she wasn’t different on the outside, her world became instantly wrapped around this little one. No one had to teach my daughter to be protective, to nurture, feed, comfort, or snuggle this little package—it just happened. And, for the most part, most women are the same. One day you’re carefree, and then after birthing your first child you’re careworn, but in a good way. The burden you bear is the love for your child.

The burden you bear is the love for your child. 

While we’re instantly ready to protect our little ones, many seem to ignore the spiritual education of children. It’s amazing to watch a baby as young as three months old sit in a children’s program on a Sabbath morning. The colors, sights, and songs intrigue and delight them. The short Bible-based songs seem instantly comforting lullabies to tiny ears and hearts.

When we read the story of the SyroPhoenician woman, women can relate. A mother, she wanted to help her child who suffered not from a physical illness, but a spiritual sickness. Finding no success at the temples of her gods, she persisted in following Jesus to beg for the life of her child. She was so persistent that the disciples asked Jesus to send her away. Even when it was implied she was nothing but a dog, she persevered. Why? Because she was a mother who loved her child.

We also need to be spiritually persistent for our children. 

We also need to be spiritually persistent for our children. Family worship, regularly attending Sabbath School and church, as well as offering a Christian education are all ways to nurture our children spiritually. A quote I read years ago when my children were small, guided me throughout their growing years. 

“Come in humility with a heart full of tenderness and with a sense of the temptations and dangers before yourselves and your children; by faith bind them upon the altar, entreating for them the care of the Lord. Ministering angels will guard children who are thus dedicated to God.” (My Life Today, p. 29).

Bind them upon the altar . . . like Abraham each day we need to give our children to God in complete faith. I started this when they were babies and continue to do so as grown women. Giving our children to God in the way that Jochebed placed Moses upon the water is the best a mother can do. God will accept the child given to Him and will guard them throughout the day against the evil one.

Let’s find renewal alongside our families as we worship at His altar each day.

Digging Deeper 

This experience happens well into Jesus’ ministry. It signals the close of His ministry in Galilee. His popularity had been increasing, but the Jewish leaders were becoming increasingly more diligent in their threats. Jesus withdrew going northward to the region of Tyre and Sidon. It was less than a year before their threats would become realized and Jesus would die at their hand.

This trip had purpose outside of moving away from Jerusalem and Galilee. Jesus was intentionally entering non-Jewish territory. This trip enabled Him to demonstrate to His disciples that they were also worthy of their attention. The conversation with the SyroPhoenician woman was an example of what not to do as well as what should be done.

Making it Real

Jesus walked about 35 miles to find the woman who was seeking Him. This week do something for someone who is at a distance from you. Mail a card or letter. Make a phone call. Bake something and take it to them even if it means a bit of a drive. How can you share Jesus’ love with someone who is at a distance?

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Merle Poirier writes from Silver Spring, Maryland, where she works as the operation manager for Adventist Review and Adventist World magazines as well as the designer for KidsView, a magazine for 8-12-year-olds. She enjoys spending time with her family including being a grandmother to two active little boys, who greatly enjoy Starting With Jesus, and a granddaughter, born in 2023. She is blessed to have all three living close by, continually bringing joy and delight.