Matthew 18:3-4

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus was treating two issues in the same breath and tying them to the same principle. Jesus was dealing with who’s the greatest in the kingdom of heaven but tied it into entering the kingdom. Since you can’t be great in the kingdom unless you first enter, this makes sense; and that’s why the illustration of a second conversion is critical.

There is the conversion of repentance from sin, and then there is the conversion to childlikeness. Many have done the first, but we struggle to become childlike in our disposition to life. The second conversion is the conversion from human pride and self-importance into the childlike state of humility and selflessness. We need a new understanding for us to embrace the weak frailty of childlikeness. And yet, only those who’ve managed to enter this new state of spiritual consciousness can after that be considered great. We need to seek help from God to turn away from “normal human reasoning” for the newness of the child-mind to take root in us.

“Lord, I need to be childlike and not childish. Help me embrace the humility and selflessness that marks the attitude of children, and grant me the spiritual grace to say no to the normalcy that’s associated with adult pride and self-defense. In Jesus name. Amen.”