“The Kingdom of Heaven Is for Those Who Are Like Small Children”

“The Kingdom of Heaven Is for Those Who Are Like Small Children”

“And I . . . will be humble in my own sight.” 2 Sam. 6:22. “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 . . . .” Matt. 18:1-4.

Think that it is possible to be humble in one’s own sight! Think that it is possible to do that—to humble yourself!!! It is a little-known skill. Therefore: not just saying that you are humble, but to humble yourself so that it becomes a fact!

How deadly serious and remarkable these scriptures are! What a radical and absolutely decisive judgment they are of all ordinary religiosity, and especially of its leaders!

What a crushing judgment these scriptures are of all imagined greatness, all megalomania, pride, conceit, the lust to dominate, and self-exaltation—all of which present a shocking contrast to a small child!

Everyone is actually small; even pathetically small! This is what people are in reality; and the worse sinners they are, the smaller they are. Those who imagine they are particularly great are the very smallest—that is, in God’s sight.

In this context, humbling yourself means acknowledging that you are really small and conducting yourself according to this acknowledgment.

This conduct entails that you—just like a little child— simply believe God’s Word without objecting or doubting, without bothering to judge it with your human reasoning, with which little children are, for all practical purposes, not equipped, and which adults, when they have acknowledged their lowliness, also do not reckon they can use in order to judge God’s Word.

They quite simply deny their human reasoning when it concerns God’s Word and salvation, which is the very reason they gain access to God’s kingdom while they are here during their sojourn. Precisely because they already have partaken of divine life and are like little children, all the usual, sinful things fall away, such as: judging, vanity, seeking honor, contention, domineering, megalomania, love of money, anxiety and unnecessary cares, and quite a few more; all the things that usually are typical of grown-up people.

The smaller you are, the less you need of almost all kinds of things in this world; and the more of a megalomaniac you are, the more you imagine you must have.

Humbling yourself is quite simply acknowledging that you are too high up and consequently moving downward as is fitting for the sake of truth and righteousness. People exalt themselves by having an even higher opinion of themselves than they had previously.

Having a high opinion of yourself is the very worst thing God knows, and this is precisely why access to God’s kingdom is utterly closed to such people. This made Jesus glad, for it was just the right thing in the Father’s sight and in Jesus’ sight. Matt. 11:25.

I don’t think anyone else can fully describe all the advantages of humbling yourself; neither can he describe the extent of how much a person loses by doing the opposite.

The majority of believers resemble something completely different than small, innocent children, and therefore they cannot gain access to God’s kingdom unless they are converted from that self-conscious, adult state in which they are.

The “advantage” with being grown-up and conceited is that then it is so easy to doubt, having ample opportunity to become an expert in judging, and thus condemning yourself. Read and stop at Romans 2:1.

Take life seriously and flee from this terrible end, and also help others to avoid such a fate!