Saturday, October 2, 2010
Mt 18:1-5,10
The disciples approached Jesus and said,“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,for I say to you that their angels in heavenalways look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”
Reflection:
Children are sweet and seemingly innocent. Anyone who has spent any amount of time with an infant or toddler knows they are far from innocent. There is something far deeper going on here than Jesus saying “be sweet and innocent like this child.” He is calling us to be like children in their very nature.
He is calling us back to our childhood, and reminding us of our complete dependence on the Father. We can’t enter the Kingdom unless we are like children because there is no room for self-sufficiency where Christ reigns as king.
It is quite humbling to admit that we are incapable of taking care of ourselves. Sometimes, we spend more time attempting to do things too difficult for us, when we very easily could have just asked for help and been done quicker.
The Bible has a word for this. Pride (one of the 7 deadly sins), and we are all dripping with it. But, we are grafted into a family where God is our Father. In a family, children believe that their father will protect and provide for them.
We must become like children because we must admit that we cannot do anything apart from the hand of our heavenly Father. We also must believe in the provision and protection of a perfect Father, who will never disappoint us, never abandon us, and never hurt us.
So, as we seek to become like children, let us look first to Christ because it is by Him that we are made sons of God.
God bless you!
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