LEARNING DAILY

 

Matthew 18:2-3, Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

The beginning of a new year is a good time to be reminded of some things and to consider where we are headed as we walk on the narrow way to God’s kingdom. Jesus was responding to a question asked by His disciples about who was the greatest in heaven. I wonder if those of us who follow Jesus today are still concerned with this same question. He answered them by bringing in a child to be an object lesson for them. There are several issues to address in these verses.

 

Jesus addresses the issue of greatness as different from what people “in the world” believe it to be. He taught true greatness as a matter of one’s inner life, being humble and having a pure heart. It is a willingness to serve not only Him but people in a way that would be seen as the least important in the kingdom of God. Greatness is not a position, or power one might possess. It is not academic degrees, or fame, or great accomplishments or success. Greatness comes “not from what we do for the Lord Jesus but who we are in spirit before Him” (LSSB). That means as His followers, as we walk on the narrow way to eternity in God’s kingdom, we “learn to be great in faith, humility, godly character, wisdom, self-control, patience and love – you know that to be great in the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23” (LSSB).

 

Jesus addresses this issue by first stating that one had to be converted and be like the little child. A little child is teachable, willing to be dependent on God by trusting Him. That greatness spoken of enters into a heartfelt commitment to God about being faithful wherever He chooses to place us. This is not a single act of sorrow and repentance; it is having “all in” attitude of life. It is an attitude of genuine sorrow for sin that leads to repentance that leads to salvation. This is in contrast to being sorry only because of the consequences of one’s sin. When Jesus said a person must be converted, He was talking about a new relationship to God (which is walking on a narrow way as opposed to the broad way) which involves changes in the areas of relationships, habits, commitments, the things we do and think about – changes that involve our entire view of life.

 

To live this way, we become like the little child He had in their midst. We are dependent on Him for everything. We live our lives “anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, making our requests known to God’ (Philippians 4:6). God’s people cannot be filled with themselves, trusting they know what is best for their lives, and doing their own thing.

 

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

I am going to try to do better at allowing the Holy Spirit to guide me this year, to be like a little child!

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.