As a Child!

“The person who is unwilling to leave the things of the world for the things of the Lord has no genuine desire for salvation.” – John MacArthur

Matthew 18:1-4, “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.”

The disciples just prior to this were arguing amongst themselves as to who was the greatest. Can you imagine this scene? You are walking with Jesus, the Savior of the world, the Living God, and you and a bunch of your friends are arguing who is the greatest. Apparently Jesus was not even part of the conversation. Was His name even brought up in the argument?

Instead of just answering their question, Jesus calls a child to Himself and says that you must be as this child to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I wonder how much of an ego shot this would be to the disciples. He does not use any of them, but pulls a child out of the crowd. Ouch!!

He says we are to receive as a child, but what does that mean? Children are completely and totally dependent for all their needs. They are totally reliant on their parents for everything. Are children sinless? Absolutely not, and anyone that has been around a two or three year old will realize this within two minutes. But, children sin not from ambition or delusions of grandeur; their sin is usually from being naïve and unassuming. Where our sin is purposeful and selfish in nature, as we should know better.

Children also live in the moment, and are not consumed by the past or future. Their only concern is now, and even then they tend not to worry because they believe whole heartedly that their parents have it under control. Being a child of God we should be enjoying Christ in the moment right now. Now is the only moment we have. We cannot change the past and there is no promise of a future, but we have right now with our Savior. How are you enjoying Christ right now? Worrying, staying busy, lusting, envying, or just plain doing nothing.

All we have is now, so just as the child humble yourself and enjoy God in every moment. Recognizing that you only exist because He allows it. Every breath you take is because God loves you so much that He wants a relationship with you. We are not to ignore our responsibilities, but we are to remember the only reason we can do anything in this moment is because we have a God that cares about us as a child. I like how Jon Ortberg put it, “We are not meant to embrace moments, but to embrace God. Moments are not always good; God is never anything else but good. Moments are simply the place where we meet Him.” Are you meeting God in this moment right now?

This very moment with us here together is a gift from God. If you are going to be with God, you must be with Him everywhere, including this very moment. Wake up with God each morning and acknowledge your complete reliance upon Him, as you cannot live one moment without Him. Talk to Him throughout the day. Tell Christ your concerns, your joys, your worries, building that relationship. Ask Him to remove fear, laziness or whatever is standing in your way for the task at hand. Renew your invitation for God to spend the Day with you. Ask Him!!!

Lastly, believe that God wants to spend time with you. He does! Most of the time this will start in the mind, as this is where God communicates with us most. We build our relationship by reading Scripture, praying, spending time with other believers, as God will use all these different forms to speak to us. He will plant thoughts in your mind as you think upon Him.

What a wonderful thought. The God of the universe tells us that He wants us to be children of His.

“For Christians, the beginning of the day should not be burdened and haunted by the various kinds of concerns they face during the workday. The Lord stands above the new day, for God has made it. . . all restlessness, all impurity, all worry and anxiety flee before Him. Therefore, in the early morning hours of the day may our many thoughts and our many idle words be silent, and may the first thought and the first word belong to the one to whom our whole life belongs.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer