Have the heart of little children

As we walk this path of faith, we come across several instances of hardships and sufferings that test our patience, that dry our hearts. Sometimes we lose the focus of our goal, our purpose in life. In such situations, what should we do? Having what kind of heart should we move on?

Let us look at Mark 10:13–16:

The Little Children and Jesus

"13People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them."

In today's passage, Jesus is teaching that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to little children. Why does the Kingdom of Heaven belong to little children? It is because only when we have a pure heart like a little child, can we enter the Kingdom of Heaven. What if I don't have a pure heart? Then I must listen to the word of God, cleanse and purify my heart in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

See Matthew 5:8. It says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Do you want to see God? Then you must have a pure heart. What does it mean to have a pure heart? It means to have a heart without any wickedness inside. A pure heart is a heart without any wickedness. Look at children. How are they? They are very simple. They are very pure. That is how the disciples of Jesus were.

Let us meditate on the calling of the first disciples. See Matthew 4:18–20. Here Jesus is calling them, "You there. Follow me." They said, "What, us?" and left their nets and boats and followed Him. This sounds very funny, right? How can fishermen drop their nets and follow Jesus? It is because their minds were very simple and pure. When we come before God, we should have this pure and innocent heart.

But in today's passage, we see that the disciples of Jesus were rebuking those who brought little children before Him. What happened to them? It is that they lost their pure heart, the heart of a little child inside of them. As we walk this path of faith, we come across hardships and sufferings. What is this heart of a child that we lose? If you look inside of a child there is a heart that is always new, always innocent, always pure.

As we do the work of God, how can we not grow tired and dry and stale? When we look at God who loves us and always believes in us, that is when we do not grow tired or stale. The heart of children is the foundation of the Gospel. See Matthew 18:1–4. How can we be like little children? Jesus is saying that we must humble ourselves. We must lower ourselves and become like children. Like children we must always be humble and meek. We must not exalt ourselves. Instead we must lower ourselves and have humble heart. What is the attitude we must have in our faith? It is not to gain high position and be served. It is to consider the younger one as precious and serve them. But it does not mean that if you are young, you say, "Serve me." It means that we should receive that preciously and also serve in return.

So in today's passage Jesus is telling us what heart we need to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We must have a pure heart, a heart that is always new and fresh, a heart of self–lowering and self–denial, and serving the younger.

Apostle Peter, he was the one who followed Jesus like this. See 1 Peter 2:2. Going beyond children, Apostle Peter is speaking about babies. He is saying that we must be like babies. The attitude of faith should be like newborn babies. Just as babies long for their mother, we must long for God. Just as a baby does not want to be separated from his mother, we must have this same heart in our relationship with God.

The ones with this longing towards God can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We should not be afraid to stand as little children in front of God. Because that is honestly what we are. Is there something that is difficult that you are facing? Do not despair. It is a sign that you should depend on God more and on yourself less. Just like a child depends on his parents, we should depend on God.

Today we have learnt so much from little children. We have learnt that we must have a pure heart, always fresh and always humble. A heart of self lowering and considering the younger one as precious. And like little children who long for their parents, we should have the heart of longing towards God. Only then we will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.