13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
Child-like Dependence on God
In today's passage, we find Jesus telling us that we have to be like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven. In today's perspective, children are adored for being cute, having youthful energy, and being innocent. However, the context of "being like children" is actually far from this in Jesus's time period. Children were viewed as worthless in societal standards because of their inability to be independent and earn an income to support the family. Families will throw away infants that had birth defects or sold them to become slaves or gladiators. They were worthless and powerless. This is why the disciples were shooing the children away from Jesus because in their minds they did not deserve Jesus's blessings.
But Jesus actually welcomes them and tells his disciples that that we have to become like them! Why? We have to become powerless and worthless so that God can be in our source of power and the definition of our worth. Our strength does not come from our own actions, but rather what God can accomplish in our lives. Our self-worth does not come from our appearance, grades, sports, or materialistic things. Our self-worth comes from our identity in God and our belief in who God is. Only then we can receive the kingdom of God. This does not mean that we wave our hands up in the air and drop everything. Jesus is encouraging us to start reflecting and start depending on God for our strength and self-worth.
This may disappoint some of you because it goes against everything you have been working for. Society promises independence and self-worth if you work hard and succeed. But remember that all of our achievements and success are temporary and will not last forever, but the kingdom of God will last forever. If you have a kingdom mindset, then you have to reach a place of true child-like dependence to Abba or God the Father.
Are you trying to live your life on your own? Are you depending on yourself more than God to have peace in your life? Ask God to be your Father who will take care of you.
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