Scripture
Matthew 18:3, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
I wish for your life to be filled with God’s love and blessing. I want to share God’s grace with you through this message titled “Children and the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Children are so beautiful when they smile innocently and play and have fun without any worries. How lovely they are when they listen to and obey their parents and teachers and do as they are told! So, our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
He did not mean that we should play a role and act like a child our Lord and behave carelessly. He really meant that we should take after the good points of children in order to go into heaven. What then should we learn through children to improve our faith?
First of all, children are simple.
Children do as they are taught by their parents just as somebody draws a picture on a sheet of blank paper. They just follow the words of the parents when they say, “Don’t hit your brother” or “Don’t eat too much.” They do what they are told to do but do not do what they are told not to do. In the same way, anybody can enter heaven if he just does just as he is taught by the word of God.
But if follow your own thoughts and say that the word of God is different from yours and it doesn’t seem to be true, how can you live by the word of God? You can enter heaven only when you obey the word of God like children as you are taught.
Secondly, children are pure.
Adults are not as pure as children because they have lived in this sinful world and their hearts have been stained with evil. So, they do not feel guilty in their wrongdoings and are dulled to the nature of sinful acts. Children, however, feel afraid and guilty when they do something wrong. This is because they are pure. In the same way, when we accomplish a pure heart, we can drive out sins and evils that God hates and long for the good things.
Thirdly, children are not arrogant.
Children know that they are weak and have little knowledge, so they accept whatever adults teach them. They do not insist on their own thoughts and opinions but have faith in adults and follow them. They do not try to conceal their weakness. They ask for the help of adults. They do not follow their pride and exalt themselves. They do not try to be recognized.
When you are humble like children, you can abstain from judging and misunderstanding any word of God that does not agree with your knowledge but trust and obey it.
In order to become childlike in spirit, more than anything else, you have to pray fervently, put on the full armor of the word of God, throw away fleshly thoughts, destroy every kind of theories and knowledge raised up against the knowledge of God and follow the mind set on the spirit and the desires of the Holy Spirit.
May each of you become a spiritual person who is simple, pure and humble like children and possess the eternal kingdom of heaven by believing and obeying the word of God, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray!
