| “And Jesus … said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). |
| How old are you now? Perhaps some of you reading this devotional are ten years old, but you are probably wishing you were twelve! Or maybe some of you are twelve, and you wish you were thirteen, so that you can be a teenager. But if you are fourteen or fifteen, maybe you cannot wait until you are sixteen, and can get a driver’s license. Then, as we get older, our wishes go the other way. People who are thirty wish they were twenty-one again, and people who are seventy remember the energy and strength they had when they were forty, and wish they were younger again. We never seem to be happy with our age! Here in our verse for today, however, the Lord Jesus is telling us that we need to become as little children, in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven. What does He mean? |
| The Lord Jesus does not mean that we can actually become little children again. He knows that this would be impossible for us. What He is talking about is out attitude toward spiritual things, and indeed, toward everything. When we were little children, we trusted what people said to us, and readily believed them. All little children are like this, unless someone betrays that trust by pretending to be friendly and then does something mean to them. Then they quickly learn to beware of people they do not know. But little children naturally trust other people. |
| When we come to the Lord Jesus, we need to trust what He says, and believe on Him. Even after we are saved, we should read the Bible, trust what it says, and obey it. That is the way to be a happy Christian, because obedience and happiness go together. |
| Sadly, many adults have seen how the world deceives them, and then they begin to think that God is deceiving them as well. Satan did this to Eve in the Garden of Eden, and persuaded her that God was not giving her the very best. She listened to Satan, and together she and Adam brought sin into this world. But the Lord is worthy of our trust, for He loves us, and always wants and does the very best for us. |
