Receive the kingdom of God like a child

Luke 18:1-17 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, ² saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. ³ There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ ⁴ For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, ⁵ yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; ⁷ now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? ⁸ I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

⁹ And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁵ And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

In today’s text Jesus says:  “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”   Often when we hear this, we think in terms of the faith of a child. The pure and simple believing what they are told and promised by their father. When I read this, I saw something else about receiving the kingdom like a child. Today’s text begins saying:  Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly.”  Jesus says we should pray persistently. If you are a parent or a grand parent, have you ever known a more persistent petition than that of a child who really wants something? They are beyond persistent to the point of relentless. A child will not grow weary in their asking. They will ask 5, 10, 20 times a day and day after day. They will continue to ask with the same enthusiasm the 20^th time as they did the first. That is how we are to receive the kingdom of God. We are to persist with the same enthusiasm day after day, regardless of what the circumstances say. The reason for our persistence regardless of the time or circumstance is not foolishness. It is not that we are to be blind to and ignore what we see. It is that like the child, we are to simply believe what the Father has said and expect Him to do what He promised. In Isaiah 55:11 God says:  So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.   In Numbers 23:19 God says:  God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?   If we ask with the persistence of a child, beleiving what the Father has said, we will receive the kingdom of God.

Look at what Jesus says in Matthew 6:25-34:  “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”   Again, a child does not worry about what they will eat or wear. They trust that it will be provided for them. We too need to trust that our Father knows all that we need. Our persistence in asking is not that we would change God’s mind or wear Him out, as the woman in the parable. Rather, it is to remind ourselves where our hope and promise lies, that it does not come from our own efforts or from the world, but it comes from the Father who loves us. Jesus taught us to pray saying:  ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.  ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’  When the Israelites were in the wildreness, God provided manna for them; their daily bread from the kingdom. They had to go out and seek the manna each day because what was given the day before was not good for the needs of the new day. Our daily bread is more than just something we eat. It is all that we need for the day. In John 6:35 Jesus says:  “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”  God has provided all that we need for each day and every circumstance. Jesus says: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” When we pray persistently it is not to inform the Father or convince Him of our need. He knows what we need. We pray persistently seeking His kingdom and His righteousness. We daily seek Jesus and all that the Father has provided through His Son, we will receive. We receive the kingdom as a child. Jesus asks:  “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.  ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’