A humble, childlike faith counts with God.

“Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself.”
“Whosoever” – is an invitation to greatness.  All are invited, anyone can make this choice.  The question is, who will do it?  All you need to do is to humble yourself.

“Oh, that changes it.  I thought this was a call to do some great work that will get me noticed!  A fantastic deed that will put my name up in lights that will make me the center of household discussions everywhere!”

But the invitation is for just the opposite, it is a challenge to humility.

“Bruce observes that to humble oneself is ‘the most difficult thing in the world for saint as for sinner’”[1] (Robinson).

Believer, the path to humility is no easy road.  But it is the way to God’s blessing.

“As this little child.”
Do you ever wonder who “this little child” was?  Probably, just a child at Jesus’ feet as He taught the multitudes that day.  He/she did not even get his/her name in the Bible.  This child is unknown.  But this trivial child had a quality that made him/her great in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Humility.

Generally, there is no pretense in a little child.  Pretty much, it is “what you see is what you get.”  When taught truth, they will typically accept it because it comes from God’s Book, and God is trustworthy.  It is the child’s simple faith that lets them trust.  There is a meekness with the little child.  When you teach him/her, they will believe, and they will do what they have been taught.

We, humans, have greater difficulty with trust as we mature.  Our pride gets in the way of it.  It is after we have experienced “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” (1 John 2:16), that our pride escalates, and our humility disappears.  We need to be reminded that without the same kind of humility and faith as “a little child” has, there is no heavenly home for us.

Jesus said,
“…Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

“The same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Believers, how can a follower be great in heaven?

“But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matthew 23:11-12).

The “way up,” to greatness, is the “way down,” being humble.  “The believer with the dirtiest serving towel wins” (Ken Collier, The Wilds).

Have you come to Jesus humbly, as that little child did?

Quote: “As long as you are proud, you cannot know God”[2] (C.S. Lewis).

[1] Bruce, as quoted by A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] C. S. Lewis (2003). “A Mind Awake: An Anthology of C. S. Lewis”, p.114, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.