for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
We need to become like these children. We need to become small and simply and humble. We ourselves are complicated and prideful. We cannot remain this way and enter the Kingdom. To be childlike isn't simply an ideal. It's a requirement.
Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (see Matthew 18:3).
It really should be the least burdensome requirement for entrance into the Kingdom. But we're all so into adulting that it is difficult for us to accept. We've survived in life by controlling things and running the show for ourselves. We need to make a break with the old and flawed ways of doing things that can never really make us happy.
Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt,
and serve the LORD.
We need to make a clean break with all ways of doing things that don't depend on the LORD as the origin and guide. Even those of us who have been Christian our entire lives have areas of our lives where we haven't let God in as much as he desires. We all have places where idols rule instead of him. The invitation to become children means that we can do more than simply change. We can be so new that it is as if the past sins and vicious habits belonged to someone else. We are born again in baptism. But this new birth is something we grow into as we learn to trust in the LORD.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment