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

The disciples of our Lord Jesus came to Him asking, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? The Lord in answering explained how to first enter into the kingdom and then what makes one the greatest. He said one must first be converted and then become as a little child.

To be converted is to repent from your sins and believe the gospel. The gospel is all about, Jesus’ death for our sins on the cross, his burial and resurrection on the third day. “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”— Mark 1:15 (KJV)The next is to be like a little child. Little children are very trusting. They easily forget a wrong done them. Children hardly acknowledge who is their enemy. The Lord was in effect saying that those who do not have the nature of children do not qualify to be part of His kingdom.

Dear brother or sister do you accept God’s word like a child. Are you able to easily forget an OFFENCE and wholeheartedly accept the one who offended you? If your answer is no, then you are/ not like a child yet, and according to the Lord, you don’t qualify to belong to his kingdom.

IF one does not qualify, then where does the grace of God come into this issue? Please note, it is the grace of God that gives us that childlike. heart. When a person refuses the grace of God, then he operates with that hardened heart of unforgiving, unloving, and untrusting.

Dear reader you may be thinking you belong to God’s kingdom yet you are not, by virtue of the Lord’s standard or terms. Please repent today, accept the grace of God that transforms our hearts to one of love for God and fellow men.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus I accept your love for me as I repent from every unloving way. I receive that loving nature that makes me as a little child. I truly forgive, truly forget grudges and truly accept those who have offended me. Thank you, Lord Jesus.

FURTHER STUDIES

 Matthew 19:14 (KJV). “But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Romans 5:1-2 (KJV). Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.