eXcept ye be converted and become as little children

Become as little children

Become as little children if you want to  enter the kingdom of heaven. What does that mean?

The little children I know are full of enthusiasm, filled with wonder and without pre-conceived ideas about how things should be. Most little children I know take things at face value. Reading this verse in context is as follows:

In context

 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying,
Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

And Jesus called a little child unto him,
and set him in the midst of them,

And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted,
and become as little children,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child,
the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me,
it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck,
and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Jesus’ disciples wondered who would be considered the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said that unless his disciples would become as little children, they had no hope to enter the kingdom of heaven.

The very fact that his disciples concerned themselves with ‘who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven,’ indicates that, at that time, they lacked the humility required to enter. A little child generally is not concerned with who will be the most powerful sometime in the future. Jesus answered that the most humble among them will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus continued and said that whosoever shall receive a humble and innocent person in Jesus name, will also be acknowledged by Him.

Warning

It has been written that “Worldly people are more clever than spiritually-minded people when it comes to dealing with others.”

Have you found that people are taking advantage of your trusting nature and your generosity? This could indicate that you may be on the right path. Because we are taught to be as little children. This does not mean that you ever should allow people to mistreat you.

But the message is to keep our heart soft and wide open and not worry too much about people who abuse your good nature.

The warning in these verses is for people who offend (new) believers. They are told to be careful not to offend unassuming souls who follow Jesus … “it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.“

I apologise for the cheeky X. If you can show me another Scripture verse with a better X, I would love to hear from  you.

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Let little children come unto me ..

Jesus said, let little children come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

We’re supposed to be like little children

We’re supposed to be like little children if we want to live forever. Little children muck up but never too bad. They’re often a pain in the .. but usually not to the extent that it cannot be overlooked. Little children don’t as a rule worry about tomorrow because they have no expectations about what tomorrow should hold and bring. For the little children I know and have known, every single day is a brand new day with brand new adventures.

Little children hug you like no-one else can, their smile is bigger than the sun and their trust in their parents in unequalled.

Can you jump?

Most little children can be a handful at times and I remember an occassion where I tried to distract my eldest, around two years old at the time. I asked her if she could jump. She nodded affirmitavely. I asked her to show me and she jumped whilst smiling broadly at me. The distraction worked and she seemd to enjoy the jumping game, so we continued. I asked her, ‘Can you jump with one leg at a a time?’ In response she jumped first on her right foot and after that on her left foot. Then she jumped with both her feet at the same time, first a little and then a lot.

For the grand finale I asked her to jump with both legs up in the air as high as she could. For some reason she took this to mean with both her legs out in front and she landed with a crash on her bum. Tears, hugs and cuddles and all was good. We still laugh nowadays when I ask her to jump with both legs at the same time.

When life, situations or people make us jump, and we fall flat on our face or on our bum, we are to be like little children and pick ourselves up and do it all over again with a little more wisdom and a little more knowledge. My daughter only ever once jumped with her legs out front, she learned very quickly that this doesn’t work. She didn’t blame me for falling on her bum although  for a moment she did not know what happened and was surprised at the result of her, seemingly innocent, action.

Trust like a little child

Just like my two year old toddler, sometimes we do what is asked from us  and we don’t get the result we’re after or we get hurt. Instead of getting mad, bemoaning our fate or blaming others; Jesus teaches us to live with the trust of a little child and keep on going. He tells us to take our worries to Him and know that in all things God’s will be done.

I believe that this is what’s meant by the Scripture verse on today’s Scripture card; the kingdom of heaven is made up of people as innocent as little children.

If you have a different take on this Scripture verse I would love to hear from you.