Lenten Devotional - Second Sunday in Lent

Scripture: Mark 9:33-37

"Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me." (Mark 9:37)

  I watched the mother and father push their newborn baby up and down the street in front of my home with loving care several times a week. I watched this baby grow from a toddler. This year she will be 11 years old. She is a beautiful girl, blue eyes and blonde hair. I don't see her much anymore. She is living with another family member and visits her mother once or twice a week. Her father died five years ago, from liver failure caused by alcohol abuse and her mother is very poor health caused by prescription drugs, alcohol, and methadone. Other family members on her mother's side are also addicted. I wonder what, this eleven-year-old girl is feeling and thinking as she watches her family waste away. I wonder how she feels when she hears from other kids that her mother is a drunken dope addict. I wonder if she will be able to overcome her traumatic childhood. We need to realize that she is not alone. There are other children growing up in similar situations.

  There are twenty million children in the U.S. that are suffering from parents that are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol (www.alcoholicsvictorious.org). Approximately thirty thousand babies born in the U.S. in 2016 were addicted upon birth and had to be in recovery immediately. They are referred to as NAS babies (www.marchofdimes.org)

  The burden of being yoked to addiction is that it wears out their soul. It drains their self-worth. They feel worthless and some people lead them to believe that they are worthless. Jesus wants to free them from the burdens of addictions. He wants to heal their soul, build their self-worth, and put them in peace with God. Jesus wants them to be yoked to him. “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29).

  What can we do as Christians? We must not judge. “Do not judge others........ Do not condemn others......... Forgive others.......” (Luke 6:37). We are to love others, not judge them. But you must be careful. Remember the driving force behind addictions is Satan. We cannot allow ourselves to be blind. “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” (Luke 6:39). Look for leaders who will teach you about faith and give you good guidance. Jesus doesn't want children treated as second-class, he took a child and put him amid them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but him who sent me.” (Mark 9:37). Children from addicted families are not easy to work with. They inherit the family attitude of “don't trust, don't feel, don't talk. Christians can help these children break these rules. They should do it in a Christ like manner to gain the children's trust. The children are normal children living in an atmosphere that is not normal. They are carrying heavy burdens.

Walter Maynard, Contributor

Remember in Prayer:  Children living in home with AOD dependent parents and relatives.

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