round, their hearts occupied, as ours are apt to be, with their own
ambitions, rivalries, and jealousies, and Jesus in the midst with the
little child; and we cannot mistake or misinterpret the lessons He
teaches us, the lessons which welled up in His heart whenever He saw, or
met, or took up in His arms, and blessed a little child.

"Let every child you meet," he clearly says to us, "remind you that if
you desire to be My disciple and to win a place in My kingdom, you must
fling off selfishness, and put in its place the spirit of service and
tenderness." "He that would be first must be servant of all." "You must
humble yourself as this little child."

And then He adds the blessing and the warning:--"Whoso shall receive one
such child in My name receiveth Me; but whosoever shall offend one of
these little ones, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged
about his neck, and he were cast into the sea."

We may pause for a moment to consider what it is in childhood, what are
the gifts, qualities, characteristics of the child, that drew from our
Lord this special love and care and these injunctions to His followers.
We do well to bear them in mind, because He has declared with such
emphasis that we have no part in His kingdom unless we retain or recover
these gifts. And we should bear them in mind, because of the blessing
promised to those who help to preserve these qualities in others.
Receive, help, cherish, or protect a child, make the way of goodness easy
to him, and shield him from evil, and Christ declares that inasmuch as
you have done it to the least of all His little ones, you have done it
unto Him.

On the other hand, offend any such child, that is to say, hinder, or