As Little Children

When the disciples of Jesus asked Him honest questions, He provided wise answers.  Jesus often appealed to simple visual illustrations to provide deep spiritual truth.  We read of such an interaction when the disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 18, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"  Jesus answered their question in a profound way.  Matthew 18:2-4 reads, "Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, ³ 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. ⁴ Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

To answer their question, Jesus simply called a little child to himself.  We do not know who this child was or what he was doing.  It could have been a son or daughter of Christ's disciples, or it could have been a street urchin working his way through the crowd.  Who it was was not as important as what the child did:  at the call of Christ the child heard His voice, stopped what he or she was doing, and obediently came to Jesus.  The child likely was not highly educated, and certainly had no seminary training.  All the things the disciples measured themselves against one another melted away into insignificance.  "If you want to be great in the kingdom of God, you must be as this little child."  Huh.  This was likely not the answer the disciples were expecting or looking for!

Jesus said to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must be converted and become a little children.  The word "converted" in the Greek means, "to twist, i.e. turn quite around or reverse." (Strong's Concordance)  The child had been heading one direction, and upon hearing the call of Jesus turned around and obeyed Him instead.  There was implicit faith in the actions of the child to do so.  A humbling of self was involved, to put aside his own plans and heed the call of the Saviour.  The call of Christ is one of repentance, obedience, and to trust in Him.  There are no adults of heaven, only children of God.  The greatest in God's kingdom are those who come to Him as children, choosing to embrace humility and even suffering for His name's sake.

Are you willing to humble yourself before your Maker?  God does not value the things we tend to value:  knowledge, experience, the ability to speak eloquently, position in a church, or social status:  He is looking and calling for people to hear His voice and come to Him in humility, yielding themselves to His will in absolute surrender and trust.  We are living in the last days, and no man knows how short his remaining time of earth is.  Allow me to remind you of the words of Jesus in John 7:37-38, "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  Jesus calls to all who thirst today.  Are you thirsty?  Repent and respond to the call of Jesus right now.  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Only those who humble themselves as children before Him will enter into the kingdom of God!