…unless you are converted and
become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
—Matthew 18:3
{CHAMBERS} “These words of our Lord refer to our initial conversion,
but we should continue to turn to God as children, being continuously converted
every day of our lives. […] When God through His sovereignty brings us into new
situations, we should immediately make sure that our natural life submits to
the spiritual, obeying the orders of the Spirit of God. […] The response of the
natural to the spiritual should be continuous conversion, but this is where we
so often refuse to be obedient. […] we
must “put on the new man…” (Ephesians 4:24). […] Our natural life must not
rule— God must rule in us. […] There are
areas of self-will in our lives where our pride pours contempt on the throne of
God and says, “I won’t submit.” […] What God sees as stubborn weakness, we call
strength. There are whole areas of our lives that have not yet been brought
into submission […] Slowly but surely we can [must] claim the whole territory
for the Spirit of God.”
{ELGIN} Something that I have
noticed with children as they grow up.
When they are small … say less than 10 or 12 … they never question their
parents, at least most don’t. [Often because
the parents have conceded their authority prematurely] Small children believe their
parents know everything and can do anything.
The children depend upon their parents for everything. The parents make the rules, provide food,
shelter and clothing. But then something
begins to happen … as the children grow older, they begin to question their parents. They become more demanding. They want to make their own rules. They want to decide what they will eat and
when they will eat it. They see their
parents as fallible and not quite so all-knowing. It’s unfair when a parent denies the child’s “right”
to have their own way. They begin to
trust in themselves and resist their parents.
So … when Jesus said be like children … He might well have said .. don’t
be like adults and teenagers.
As Christians, we are to have
a faith in God like small children have in their parents. I will use a well-worn verse, once
again. (Proverbs 3:5-6) “Trust in
the Lord and not yourself” Why do you
suppose that God thought it necessary to include that admonition in His
revealed Word? Right – because He knows us and our inclinations. He created us with a will. Now think about this. He gave us our own will, but then asks that
we submit that will to His. Free will
says you don’t have to .. and very often we don’t! We are to follow Jesus’ example. And if you want to follow Jesus … if you
really want to follow Jesus … then you will pick up your cross daily (Matthew 16:24) … which is to say … sacrifice
your will in favor of the Father’s will …. Believing that our God is greater
than any other. That you can trust Him
even when you don’t understand everything.
To decide that you are not going your own way or the way that everyone
else is going. Can you do that? Yes!
Will you do that? Time will tell. Personally I hope so. You will never experience the new life God
intends for you until you do.
No comments:
Post a Comment