We Must Become As Little Children!

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 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. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.” Matthew 18:1-5 NKJ

I can just imagine what this scene must have looked like as the disciples came running toward Jesus to ask the question about who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I can almost see them looking like Donkey on Shrek, jumping up and down shouting, “I know! I know! Pick Me! Pick Me!” And I can envision the expression on Jesus’ face as he looked past them and called the little children to come to Him. One thing we have to remember when reading this passage is that the disciples had already witnessed many miracles and that Peter, James, and John had already seen Jesus transfigured on the mountain top. But even after these events they still came summoning Jesus to tell them who was the greatest in the kingdom!

One would think it would be pretty clear to them who was the greatest and yet even after witnessing such amazing miracles; there was still a competitive spirit in operation that made them want to vie for first position! But the humbling reality for us to accept is that this same competitive spirit is a common trait in all of us. I will admit that there was a time in my life where I wanted to be the greatest and the best, and the competitive spirit drove me in many aspects of life, including my Christian walk. And I can tell you that if I had been there that day I would have been the first disciple at Jesus’ feet, elbowing everyone out of position to make sure I was first.

But not anymore! Since coming to understand Jesus’ words in this passage my only desire is to give honor and glory to Him because He is the ONLY ONE who is worthy to be called the greatest in the kingdom of heaven! Now my passion in life is to sit at His feet, learn from Him, and worship Him, so that when people look at me; their eyes are drawn to Him and they want to know Him, learn from Him, and worship Him too!

And when I get to heaven I want to be found doing what Revelation 4:8b-11 speaks of. It says, “Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and have their being."

The way to ensure I continue in this posture of reverence and a mindset of humility and the way for the entire body of Christ to operate in this mindset is to follow Jesus’ command to be converted and to become as little children. The word converted means to be changed, transformed, or to exchange. In this case it would mean to change from a mindset of pride or arrogance that is driven by a spirit of competition into a mindset of humility and reverence that is driven by a teachable spirit, like that of a little child.

Little children are completely dependent and teachable! They know they are incapable of meeting their own needs and they are very aware of who they have to go to in order to have their needs met. They may want something they see but they know they have to ask for it and then wait until it is given to them. They also are not ashamed to make their needs known and to ask for help if they don’t understand something. They may try something new but if they fail they don’t beat themselves up; they look for someone to teach them how to do it. Little children love openly and are quick to forgive and they don’t hold grudges when others hurt them. They are not judgmental and they accept people no matter how different they are.

Their goal in life is to live it to the fullest in a mindset of discovery and to learn all they can from those who can teach them what they need to know to grow up into the people they are created to be. They are vulnerable and forthright in their interactions with those in authority and put their total trust in them! And they never try to take charge of their own lives because they realize that in and of themselves, they are incapable of providing what they need, which keeps them in a mindset of dependence. These are truly kingdom qualities! Theirs is the example we need to follow in our relationship with Jesus and in relationship with each other! It is the anecdote for pride, arrogance, and the competitive spirit!

We have to come to the place where we are totally dependent on Jesus and where we seek Him with our whole heart for our every need and desire! We have to be willing to admit we don’t know it all and ask Him to lead and guide us! We have to be willing to make our needs known and not be ashamed ask Him for help when we don’t understand something or need something! We must realize our own inabilities and look to the only One who can teach us how to become who we are created to be! We also need to treat each other with love and we need to be quick to forgive and not hold grudges against one another when we are offended or hurt.

With this mindset in operation we will stay in a posture of reverence and humility that is driven by a teachable spirit. We will also only desire for others to see Jesus as the greatest in the kingdom and we will direct their attention to Him, instead of drawing attention to ourselves. Let us come together and pray that the entire body of Christ comes to this realization so we will be able to reach the world with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and lead them to a saving knowledge of Him; where they will have a desire to sit at His feet and learn from Him too! And one day we will all join together in heaven and say, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come!