阅读经文 

有一个故事，是关于一位与妻子及家人一同在某国被软禁在家的宣教士的。有一天士兵来对他们说：“你们可以返回美国了，你们可以携带200磅的行李。”

他们便拿出磅秤，开始去量称准备携带的东西：书籍、花瓶、一台新的打字机。这个要带吗？那个呢？他们在量称和计算，终于准确地达到200磅的行李限量了。

其中一个士兵问道：“准备好了吗？你们是否量称了每一件东西呢？”

“是的。”

“你们有没有量称孩子？”

“我们没有啊！”

“孩子也要量称的。”

瞬间，他们先前认为重要的东西现在都成为废物了。

在今天，世界上最贫穷的人中有超过一亿是儿童，这是一个令人痛心的统计数字。他们中间有百份之二十都是住在所谓“发达国家”的。儿童的贫穷意味着营养不足、易受侵害、缺乏安身之所、健康欠佳等等。这是由很多因素造成的——缺乏受教育的机会、被社会传统束缚等等。执政者作政治和经济的决策时，往往忽视了儿童的需要。

耶稣爱小孩子。当有人带着小孩子来见祂时，祂的门徒尝试打发他们离开，耶稣便责备门徒。“量称小孩子”，意味着我们要认真地考虑他们的需要和顾虑，当我们尊重他们时，就是在尊崇耶稣了。

There’s a story about a missionary who, with his wife and children, were under house arrest in China. Then soldiers came one day and said, “You can return to America, and you can bring 200 pounds.”

They got out a scale and started weighing items to bring: books, a vase, a new typewriter. What about this? And that? They weighed and calculated, and finally they had exactly 200 pounds of luggage.

One of the soldiers asked, “Are you ready? Did you weigh every­thing?”

“Yes.”

“You weighed the kids?”

“No, we didn’t.”

“Weigh the kids.”

And quickly all of the stuff they had thought was important became trash.

More than a billion of the poorest people in the world today are children. That’s a sad statistic. And 20 percent of them live in so-called “developed” nations. Child poverty means lack of nutrition, vulnerability, inadequate shelter, poor health, and more. It results from many factors—lack of educational oppor­tunities, restrictive social norms, and more. The needs of children are often overlooked when political and economic decisions are made.

Jesus loves children. He rebuked his disciples when they tried to dismiss children who were brought to him. When we “weigh the kids” by taking seriously their needs and concerns, we honor them, and we honor Jesus too.