Two things stand out to me, first when Jesus said, “…Unless you turn from your sins and become like little children…” It is not that kids are sin free it is that they are innocent and open and there is no pride in them. We easily start doing things for our personal gain and for what pleases us but Jesus is calling us to surrender what we desire and turn to Him. Our humbleness keeps us focused on Christ and our focus on Christ keeps us from doing things for ourselves. This is the first step to transformation and the changing of our heart.
The second thing is when Jesus said, ‘…You will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.” Without truly believing in Jesus and letting go we will be missing out on what Jesus came for and we will always live for ourselves and never turn to Christ. It seems harsh but Jesus is just reminding us that He came to save us from ourselves and help us see the importance of living for Him. At the end of Chapter 17 Jesus shares with Peter about paying their taxes and in verse 27 Jesus says, “However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.” We get caught up in what we think we should do and it leads us to fight fights that don’t need to be fought. Surrender to what we learn from Christ and changing our heart and our focus can help us grow and be different.
Matthew chapter 18 verse 4 goes on to say, “So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” We can’t worry about our status, we just need to live 100% for Jesus and read God’s word so we can continue to grow and know what to do in all situations. As we read and learn we change and our lives become like children listening to their parents because they love them. We show our love by our surrender and our surrender fills our heart with desire that come from Jesus not our sinful nature and we experience truth. Amen