Become a Little Child

“And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 18:2,3). I love this passage of scripture so much because it really demonstrates the simplicity of what God is looking for in his people. If we cannot be saved unless we become as little children, it is integral that we realize what it is that characterizes a little child. Seeing that the scripture says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him,” it is of first importance to note that little children believe whatever they are told (Heb. 11:6). They “lean not on [their] own understanding,” but rather they take whatever they are told to pretty much be Gospel truth (Prov. 3:5). They have not yet developed that reasoning faculty that comes with increased ‘knowledge’ of themselves and the world around them, as in “the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 3:6). Had Eve simply believed God in the garden of Eden, rather than exercising that reasoning faculty unto disbelief of God, things could have been far different for everyone. Little children are dependent on what they are told, and they are dependent on someone else for taking care of their needs. Jesus gave us the same simplistic instruction for having our needs in this life met: “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? … But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Mat. 6:31-33). So what is the righteousness of God in our lives? “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God BY FAITH” (Philip. 3:9).

Any way we cut it, it comes back to simply believing God, even as little children just believe what they are told. True faith in Jesus produces receiving his Spirit, whereby we receive power to put away sin and follow God purely in his divine love (Jn. 7:38,39; Acts 1:8; Rom. 5:5; Rom. 8:13). “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love” (Eph. 5:1,2). The apostle Paul gives us another trait of little children, and admonished us to follow after it: “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men” (I Cor. 14:20). As Paul alludes to, children do not hold grudges and they are quick to forgive. They just don’t have enough calculated reasons to hold onto a grudge. Begrudging is more common among those who have that developed faculty of reasoning that I mentioned earlier. As far as being men in understanding as the apostle mentioned, that really just means to be developed enough in understanding to realize how truly simplistic the calling of God is, as the prophet Micah so eloquently said: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Mic. 6:8). That sounds a whole lot like what Jesus said as well: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (Jn. 13:34). If we apply what Paul said about malice to every other kind of sin, that basically shows the simplicity of what it means for us to become as little children. To show that point even more plainly, let me just say that little children are above all things innocent and harmless, which things the scriptures instruct us to be (Mat. 10:16; Philip. 2:15). If we can manage to keep from adding anything religiously superfluous to these pure and simplistic guidelines, then with God’s help maybe we can be found as little children in the sight of God, and inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen.