And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.- Matthew 18:2-3 ESV

Warrior;

So many people, including myself have pondered what this means, “you must become like a child to enter the kingdom of heaven.  So, people start considering what a child is LIKE? Is the Bible telling us to ACT LIKE A CHILD to be approved by God? It’s crucial to understand that Jesus is not encouraging His followers to have ‘childish behaviors’. The goal is not to become immature or foolish, but to adopt the qualities of a child.  But the question remains, which qualities? Some believe the quality is TRUSTING. Children are naturally trusting and dependent on their parents for everything. Jesus emphasizes that we should trust God like a child trusts their parent, relying on Him for all our needs. Some belief it is to do with GULLABILITY. They believe the verse highlights the need for faith, not just in a general sense, but specifically a faith that is as trusting and unwavering as a child’s faith in their parents. And both of those answers could have a foundation of correctness. Our God can have a MULITUDE of reasons for everything He does.  We follow the OMNI God!  Omni is ALL!  Yahweh is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient; All Powerful, All Present, All Knowing.  He is also ALL PURPOSEFUL, Omni Purposive!   

Leader, if you know enough of the Bible then you can find a verse to justify anything, any sin. David Koresh used the Bible to justify fornication with children.  Jim Jones used the Bible to justify mass murder. Jason Thornburg used the Bible to justify ritualistically killing 4 people over a couple of years, believing he was doing God’s will. When reading the Bible, we need to understand the context of what is being said.  Who was this said to, what did it mean to them back then-not today, what does it mean today.  Hermeneutics is about understanding how we can decipher the intended meaning of a text, considering its historical and cultural context, and the author’s perspective. It is important to read more than just the WORDS of the Bible. Because without understanding the meaning and purpose of what THE WORD is- then they are just words. However, there are many verses in the Bible that don’t need an in-depth study, and today’s verse is one of them. Here we see the importance of understanding the entire context when the WORD was given.  Sometimes it is just about sitting on the WORD and consider the point of the discussion from which THE WORD was given. Reading the verses before, and after, and then meditating on the context allows THE WORD to come to life. The heading that is given to this section of scripture in Luke, John and here in Matthew is; WHO IS THE GREATEST.  This is about competition and outdoing our brothers and sisters.  This is about self, about pride, about self-absorption. Jesus is giving us a lesson about HUMILITY. When did the GOOD NEWS become about man, and not about the SAVIOR?

Conduit, we are not in the mess we are today, because man doesn’t think enough of himself.  Once Jesus gets a hold of us, we are transformed, we have a change in nature, status, standing and eternal destination.  However, we must never forget what we are apart from our Lord and Savior.  Every year on the catholic calendar, to start the 40 days of the Passion Process that lead to the Resurrection- it kicks off with Ash Wednesday.  Ash Wednesday is a remembrance that we are BUT DIRT, without the intervention of the Lord most High.  There are supposedly 17 elements that make up the human body, and they all exist in dirt.  In the letter to Corinth, Paul had to deal with this ‘FLESHLY’ pride in relation to WHO’S LEADER was better.  It is written; Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role. I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3:1-9) We need to stop making the GOSPEL about us.  God is not lucky to have us on HIS TEAM.  We are blessed beyond favor that HE HAS CHOSEN US to be on HIS TEAM! Today’s verse is about remembering the greatest is JESUS! The reason for every season is JESUS.  Jesus uses the image of children to illustrate the need for humility, as children are seen as humble and without worldly status. True greatness in the kingdom of heaven is not about power or status, but about humility and a childlike spirit. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10) He has given us a reminder, and a call to humility and submission to God’s authority–Like the CHILD OF GOD that we are!