Matthew
18:4 – Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is
greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.
God’s idea of greatness and the process for
obtaining it are vastly different from this world’s idea. First, it is
important to realize that He is not against greatness. The disciples asked Him,
‘Who is the greatest?’ If aspiring to greatness were wrong, He would have
immediately corrected them. He might have said something like this, ‘Now boys,
you should know better, everyone is equal in the kingdom of God, no one is
greater than another.’ However, He did not correct them. He did not brush off
the idea of greatness. The kingdom of Heaven is not a uniform, bland and
mindless community, but it is a progressive, innovative, and productive
society. Please do not misunderstand me; we are all precious to God and equal
in value, but we are not and never shall be, equal in roles, function, or
capabilities. We all have amazing potential, but those who are the greatest are
those who accept responsibility, take the initiative, and use what they have
been given.
This verse is teaching us that even though the
idea of greatness is not wrong, quite often our definition of greatness and our
motives for greatness are wrong. The prophet Jeremiah once asked the question,
‘Are you seeking great things for yourself?’, and then he commanded, ‘Seek them
not.’ Jesus said that humility is the pathway to greatness. So, instead of
focusing on being great and our status in life, we should focus on humility and
our service in life and give that a place of priority in our lives.
Humility is one of those qualities that we
do not hear much about, even though it is essential for building a solid
foundation for life. What is humility? Among other things, it is surrendering to
the will of God and His plan no matter what process it takes you through.
Joseph’s life is a good example of that. His humility and the will of God took
him from the deep pit to the harsh prison and then to the luxurious palace.
Joseph surrendered and accepted subservient tasks, but he also must have had
the humility to accept the huge responsibility of promotion, when it finally
came. Someone has said that our greatest fear may not be failure but success,
because with success comes larger responsibilities. With failure comes sympathy
from others and our own rationalization that says, ‘Oh well, I tried.’ When God
spoke to Moses about approaching Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to demand the release
of the Israelites, Moses resisted out of some form of what we might call
humility, but God was less than impressed. Moses had to surrender his own
agenda and accept with humility the high place of responsibility that God had asked
him to take.
Childishness is a trait that holds us back
from growth and it desperately needs to be removed from our lives, but
childlikeness is the key to the kingdom of Heaven. Little children have much to
teach us, they are open to new ideas and suggestions; they do not say, ‘I know
that already.’ Children are teachable which means that they are without pride.
If humility is the path to greatness, then pride must be the path to
diminishment and destruction. Pride is the great hindrance to our advancement
in God’s plan and purpose. Pride is resisted by God, humility is reinforced.
I once heard the story of how a man drove
into a small town and inquired of an older man who was sitting outside the
general store, ‘Were there any great men born in this town?’ The old man didn’t
even look up as he responded, ‘Nope. Only babies’. Greatness is not something
you are born with; greatness is developed. Just as a seed carries within it
possibilities of growth and productivity, so, God has given each of us the
potential to be great. Use what you have been given, no matter how small it may
seem. Sow the seeds that you have in your hand. Plant it. Nurture it. Trust God
and watch it grow into something great!
No comments:
Post a Comment