“Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven.”
(Mathew 18:4)
Jesus defined greatness in
a most unusual way. His contemporaries
believed that greatness was a God-given blessing that manifested itself through
power, influence, and wealth. When asked about who was the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven, Jesus called a little child over, placed the child in the
middle of the gathering and said, “this is greatness; this is what you must
become.” I would guess there were
whispers, perhaps astonished glances exchanged. Maybe there was the stirring of
dust beneath the feet of a few who got up and walked away. Jesus was used to such responses; he got them
all the time.
Defining greatness in such a way would
likely bring similar responses today. We
still struggle to understand the correlation between humility, trust,
faithfulness and love when defining greatness.
The way of the cross, however, is a way of self-denial that calls the
follower of Christ to a different perspective.
Where else would greatness be defined by the qualities of a
child?
Prayer: Gracious God, please forgive my arrogance and
pride. May the childlike qualities of humility, trust, mercy, and love be seen
in my words and actions today. Amen.
Jim Abernathy
No comments:
Post a Comment