The Humility of a Child

A consistent theme in this blog for many years has been that "Humility attracts heaven" - The key verse being, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6/1 Peter 5:5)

Grace is divine enablement - God's ability being given to us - and WHO gets that? THE HUMBLE. What do the proud get? They get God opposing them! We already have the devil and his angels opposing us, the full arsenal of the kingdom of darkness...and yet, if we are proud, the Holy Trinity Himself opposes us! Why is this not one of the most preached sermons in the Church? It seems to me that this is such a key teaching that 2 of the most influential leaders in the 1st century church - the Apostle Peter and James the brother of Jesus, who led the Church in Jerusalem. 

But then this morning, another passage was highlighted by none other than the most influential leader in history, the Lord Jesus Himself...why I never 'saw' this verse before, I am not sure. Maybe it is because the "becoming like a child" (Matt 18:3) has been such a dominant idea coming out of the beginning of Matthew 18, that is obscured what comes in verse 4.

Matthew 18:4 - Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven

What is clear to me is that the vast majority of Christians do not believe this verse. If we did, if it was emphasized, taught on, preached about...we would see a very different church that we do. 

The GREATEST in the kingdom are those who humble themselves like children??? What are children like? Totally dependent. Largely powerless. Extremely teachable. Unjaded. Not cynical. Uncritical. Forgiving. The list goes on and on. 

This is what God wants us to be like??? And in so being, we will be considered the GREATEST in His Kingdom?? 

Where is this emphasis today? Where has this verse been all my life. I am thankful that for such a time as this, God has highlighted it today. To show that in fact, the Apostle Peter and the Lord's brother James were only reiterating in another way what their Lord and Master was teaching in His ministry. 

Humility doesn't just attract heaven...it is the operating system required for greatness in the Kingdom of God!