By David ReayWednesday 17 Nov 2021LifeWords DevotionalsDevotionsReading Time: 2 minutes
About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. (NLT)
Once upon a time a tourist coach made a stop in a quaint Irish village to allow for some photo opportunities and some mingling with the few locals there. An old man was sitting on a bench near the bus stop and one of the tourists approached him.
“Hello, I wonder if you can tell me if any great people were born in this place?” The local thought for a while and shook his head, “Nope, only babies.”
No one is born great. We come into this world as helpless babies and so often leave this world in a similarly helpless state. But in our distorted value system, we attribute greatness to those who wield power or gain popularity, or accumulate massive wealth. A supposedly “great” person may not actually have achieved very much. Nowadays, we can be famous for being famous.
Some years ago, there was a motivational programme called “Dare to be Great”. Its idea of greatness was, to say the least, at variance with what Jesus taught. It ended up making its founder rich, and him serving gaol time for fraud.
Jesus is radically different. There is no pecking order in his sphere of rule. Those who preside over huge churches, who write best selling books and speak at all the well attended conferences, are no greater than anyone else. An official position in a church hierarchy, or a reputation among the Christian community, does not grant greatness on anyone.
Little children, especially in Jesus’ day, were the epitome of helplessness and powerlessness. That is where we find true greatness.
Blessings,
David