Matthew 18:3 Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Little children totally trust and depend on their parents or guardians for everything. They have complete faith in provision and protection. They don’t worry about what they will eat or drink or what they will wear. They are not concerned about how the bills will be paid, if the car will start, or if they will have a job on Monday. They simply trust their caretakers and believe everything will be okay.
The Lesson Jesus taught His Disciples in the 18th Chapter of Matthew is, in my opinion, the most important Lesson of all. The simple fact is, anyone wanting to enter the Kingdom of Heaven MUST be converted and become as little children,
Most parents work hard to make their children strong and independent. We want them to be able to take care of themselves and make their own way. We say, "Grow up and stand on your own two feet." That’s all fine and good, except it can build pride in them and cause them to boast about their own achievements, believing they can do anything if they just try hard enough and put in enough time, effort, and money.
When you think about it, this is exactly the opposite of what Jesus taught His Disciples. He 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.
As we become adults, life gets more and more complicated. We must take on more responsibility, and with responsibility comes worry, anxiety, and stress. When a person begins to worry about things and becomes anxious and stressed out, they are no longer addressing life as a child but as an adult. This is when we begin to try to make things happen, fix other people, and solve problems on our own.
All this activity is “worldly” and, to put it into perspective, to what we have been discussing for the past couple of months, every bit of this behavior is “outside the fence” of the Pasture of Plenty.
Whatever the situation is or whatever is causing that person to behave the way they are, is a result of sin, either in their own life or in the life of someone who has affected them. Anything not of God is sin, and Jesus defeated IT ALL on the Cross two thousand years ago. The fact that we are trying to fix it ourselves is an open display of living as that independent person we were taught to be, and not as a little child, like Jesus taught in the 18th Chapter of Matthew.
Jesus also said, Come unto Me and I will give you Rest. No one can rest when they are burdened with the troubles of life. There is no doubt life is burdensome, but when we respond like a little child, not worry and just take it to the Cross and lay it down BELIEVING AND TRUSTING that Jesus has already won that Victory, THEN we can lie down and rest just as Jesus promised.
The greatest lesson Jesus taught was that we must be converted (born again) and become as little children,
Question: How are you responding to the situation at hand? If you are a believer, you say you have been converted, but have you become as a little child trusting Jesus for everything?
Becoming a child will…….. turn the tide........in your life!
Getting younger every day! Doreen
