BECOME LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN

Matthew 18:3 - And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

I still have vivid memories of my father holding my hand while crossing the road. I used to be completely dependent on him but that was about 20 years ago. I no longer reach out for his hands. As we grow older we become less dependent on our parents. And that is what we call growth. In our Christian walk the whole cycle is reversed. We are becoming more dependent on Christ each day and that is called christian growth. No wonder Christ asked us to be like little children. Completely dependent on Him.

We can only access God through Christ by His Spirit. Jesus paid the price by His blood for us to be qualified in the presence of God. His Spirit escorts us to His throne of grace (Ephesians 2:18). We cannot please God in the flesh and the same reason why God gave us His Spirit (Romans 8:7,8). In the Spirit, God sees us as Christ because we have the same Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9, Galatians 4:6). And thus we have the confidence in approaching God’s throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). Living by the Spirit means being obedient to the faith through grace that we have already received (Romans 1:5). We no longer walk by rules or legalism but by faith believing that Christ’s work was complete and finished. The more we put our trust in this truth, the more dependant we become on Him.  

Our struggle is pride and we know that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Living a life of surrender means that we have given God complete control and we are no longer dictating our own lives. How do we do this? This begins by acknowledging who we are and what the Lord has done for us. Are you struggling to surrender? Get back to the message of the cross. The message of the cross reveals what Christ has done and helps us to believe in His finished work. This message indeed gives us an attitude of humility as we experience His unmerited favor and power (1 Corinthians 1:18). The message of the cross reveals the strong grip of the Father’s hand. Knowing this won’t you surrender? Do you want to hold His hand or do you want Him to hold yours? Whose grip is stronger? The younger we are as a child the more stronger is the Father’s grip on us.

Samuel Thomas (Sam)

Sam is a Christian minister who is serving the Lord in various capacities. He is an integral part of MTU, New Delhi and is also ministering with Crossway Church. He can be reached on samvthom16@gmail.com