When I was fourteen our youth group went on a mission trip to Wyoming. As teens, we possessed few skills, but we could play with children. I was good at playing. And one child captured my heart, a little girl named “Stormy.”
Everything about the four-year-old was cute, beginning with her name. I played little games with her and marveled at her smile and how teachable she was. She was one of those tiny, wonderful children. She had a sunny disposition and brought joy to everyone. You might say she was humble except ‘humble’ is such a big word to hang on a tiny child, like putting her in her daddy’s shirt and watching it swallow her like a dress. Stormy’s humility was unconscious; it was simply her natural state.
Imagine the most delightful little boy or girl you have known. Do you have one in mind? Picture them.
Jesus says you need to be more like him or her.
If you want to be a leader, an achiever, a ‘difference-maker,’ then stop trying to emulate the heroes of our world and try to become more like that innocent, delightful child.
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ Then He called a child to Him and had him stand among them. ‘I assure you,’ He said, ‘Unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one child like this in My name welcomes Me’” Matthew 18:1-5.
Jesus loved children. But why does He encourage us to become like them? Children are small, helpless, unskilled, totally dependent on others, vulnerable to so many dangers, uneducated, and inexperienced. They need parents, guidance, protection, food, shelter, wisdom, and direction.
But the truth is—we adults are just like them: sheep in need of a shepherd. The difference is this: children KNOW they are children. They recognize how helpless and needy they are.
Children KNOW they are unskilled, dependent on their parents, vulnerable to dangers, inexperienced, and in need of guidance, wisdom, and direction.
Do I know that? Do you? Or are we so busy being confident adults who’ve got it all together that we forget we are sheep in need of a shepherd?
Imagine being a lawyer. Highly successful adults, business owners, entrepreneurs, and leaders of every stripe come to you and pay you to give them advice about law and business.
How can a lawyer charge hundreds of dollars for his hard-won wisdom, then turn around and “become like a child”? Sounds impossible—but Jesus says you MUST.
Imagine being a doctor. Children, adults, elite athletes, war veterans, and broken-down old folks with chronic illnesses come to you, take off their clothes, and tell you about their bad habits that they keep secret from everyone else, hoping you can help them get better.
How can a doctor spend all day trafficking in the most private, intimate, sometimes sordid details of his patients’ lives, then go home and “become like a child”? Sounds impossible—but Jesus says you MUST.
You must be HUMBLE and TEACHABLE. If you are not, beg God to change you. Otherwise you “will never enter the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 18:3.
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