And whoso shall receive one such little child

in my name receiveth me. Matthew 18:5

 

         I wonder what it was like to be that child. One minute you’re playing marbles with your friends or maybe playing your handheld video game and the next thing you know you hear a voice. Responding to that voice puts you in the middle of a group of strangers. The One Who called you is telling the men to be like you. Whoa! Pretty heavy stuff for a kid to hear. But this wasn’t just any child, this was a humble child.

        I believe humble is the keyword here. We are not to receive the childish games the world plays, nor the childish ways some Christians behave. We are to receive the truly humble child of God. Makes sense doesn’t it? Jesus Himself was humble. He was the Sermon on the Mount before He preached the Sermon on the Mount. He recognized His need for God, mourned sin, behaved meekly.  And He was the verses we’d rather ignore. He was persecuted, insulted and slandered.

       He was the walking talking Good News and His ultimate desire was that He was received. Note He didn’t answer their question. He seemed to be saying, ‘you’ll find out when you get there and you won’t get there unless you change.’ Receiving Christ was and still is the only way to get to Heaven. I don’t know if this question was answered for the disciples once they were martyred and entered the kingdom. Somehow, I don’t think it mattered.

      Unanswered questions: we all have them. The only way to find out if you’ll even care about the answers once you get There is to answer yes to one yourself. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior?