Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3
BSB
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Turning around
The disciples asked Jesus who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus called a child over to him. The word translated here as ‘change’ (‘converted’ in the King James Version) literally means ‘to turn around’. To change direction and go the other way.
Childlike isn't the same as childish. Paul even urges his readers to grow up in their thinking. A child knows that it is small and dependent. In the next verse Jesus completes the thought: the greatest is whoever becomes as small as this child.
Question for today
Where do I want to be great, while Jesus asks me to become small?
Prayer
Father, I like to show what I can do. Teach me to turn around, and to become small like a child who trusts in you. Amen.
One of the 325 words of Jesus on this site, from the temple to Revelation. See all the words in order →