SEPTEMBER 3
HID FROM THE WISE
Matthew 11:25-26
25 At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants. 26 Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight. (WEB)
When Jesus prayed to His Father and thanked Him for hiding 'these things' from the wise and understanding, what was He referring to? If we read earlier in the chapter, Jesus is talking about how He was rejected by the religious leaders of that time when they called Him a 'glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners' (Matthew 11:19).
Basically, Jesus was saying that the mysteries of the kingdom were hidden from those who considered themselves wise and prudent but revealed to little children. Now, there is nothing wrong with using our brains—after all, God gave them to us. However, we can run into problems when we start to trust in our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6) instead of trusting in God.
That's why it's so important to receive the kingdom like a little child. Little children don't overthink. They just instinctively trust their parents to tell them who they are. If their parents say the sky is purple, then they believe it. There is no independence, no suspicion, no pride to interfere with their trusting hearts.
The truth is that we are all little children in God's eyes. He is the Everlasting Father, and we are His little kids. The more we can relate to Him as Father through a childlike heart, the more we will be able to receive things from Him that are impossible to rationalize with our human understanding.
My prayer today is that we all adopt a childlike heart so we can genuinely receive all the mysteries of the kingdom that our heavenly Father has prepared for us. May the Holy Spirit grant us wisdom to walk this path.
Matthew 18:1-4
In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in their midst, and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. (WEB)
25 At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants. 26 Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight. (WEB)
When Jesus prayed to His Father and thanked Him for hiding 'these things' from the wise and understanding, what was He referring to? If we read earlier in the chapter, Jesus is talking about how He was rejected by the religious leaders of that time when they called Him a 'glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners' (Matthew 11:19).
Basically, Jesus was saying that the mysteries of the kingdom were hidden from those who considered themselves wise and prudent but revealed to little children. Now, there is nothing wrong with using our brains—after all, God gave them to us. However, we can run into problems when we start to trust in our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6) instead of trusting in God.
That's why it's so important to receive the kingdom like a little child. Little children don't overthink. They just instinctively trust their parents to tell them who they are. If their parents say the sky is purple, then they believe it. There is no independence, no suspicion, no pride to interfere with their trusting hearts.
The truth is that we are all little children in God's eyes. He is the Everlasting Father, and we are His little kids. The more we can relate to Him as Father through a childlike heart, the more we will be able to receive things from Him that are impossible to rationalize with our human understanding.
My prayer today is that we all adopt a childlike heart so we can genuinely receive all the mysteries of the kingdom that our heavenly Father has prepared for us. May the Holy Spirit grant us wisdom to walk this path.
Matthew 18:1-4
In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in their midst, and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. (WEB)