Day #309 - The Greatest
The Presence - A Devotional for living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
Matthew 18:1-5 NIV
How do you determine that someone is the greatest?
Do you measure their character? Or is it their abilities? Would you consider their appearance or their strength? What about their intelligence? Does charisma matter at all? When it comes to sports we can determine the greatest of all time (the GOAT) by someone’s records, career wins or times. But when it comes to a person in general it can be hard to know how to weight the different variables involved in what makes someone.
Jesus had an interesting measurement for who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. He said that the greatest would be whoever takes the low position of a child. Think about that. The disciples are asking who is the greatest and Jesus takes a child to show them what true greatness is all about. He said we must change to become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven.
I love what G. K. Chesterton said here in his book Orthodoxy about how childlikeness captures the nature of God: “Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”
Children like to explore and have an incredible curiosity. Their hearts are typically open to love and they trust easily. Childlikeness is the key to living in the kingdom and in “the Presence.” In fact, Jesus said that if we welcome a child in His name, we welcome Him.” Welcoming Him is welcoming “the Presence” and we don’t only do that by our worship and our prayers but by welcoming a child in His name.
My wife and I love it when children are in worship. They dance and sing. They drop crayons and cereal everywhere. They run, laugh, clap and sometimes they cry or scream. There is a place for solitude and silence before the Lord to enter His presence in stillness but their is also the colorful, messy, loud and expressive experiences that come along with worshipping Jesus with children and like children.
Jesus, I love how You define greatness as childlikeness. Help me to live in the simple trust and love of a child who belongs to You. Let me imagine and dream as a child. Let me love children like You do and welcome them so that You might be welcome among us. In Your name, amen.
This morning the Holy Spirit highlighted the word "children" to me as I read Ephesians in this passage:
"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma" (Ephesians 4:31-5:2). Little children get over things quickly and move on: so should we. We are God's beloved children forever. Therefore we can walk in love as Christ loved us.
Wow, love this so much - that Chesterton quote -- amazing!!