The Kingdom and Little Children

This morning I was continuing my reading of Luke's eighteenth chapter - Luke 18:15-17 NIV:

[15] "People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. [16] But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. [17] Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

I have always liked these verses, because they represent the way I think the Father is towards all of us. He welcomes us and desires us to come to Him.

This morning I thought I would dig into the original Greek, as there are two words that seem pretty significant "belongs" and "receive" both of which are describing the Kingdom of God.  These are Jesus' words concerning the Kingdom, so it is important for us to understand them.

The first word translated 'belongs' is the Greek work Eimi and the definition is given as follows: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.  Only a few times is this word translated 'belongs' in the scriptures, so this causes me to wonder about a fuller meaning.  If we replaced belongs with the simple definition "is present" it significantly changes the way I read this verse.  It would sound to me that little children have an awareness of the Kingdom, that us older people do not. I find from my experience that this is often true, that little children are more sensitive to the moving of God, and spiritual reality around them, although they sometimes don't have language to describe what they are sensing or feeling.

The second word here translated 'receive' is the Greek word dechomai and it is defined as follows:

1) to take with the hand
   a) to take hold of, take up
2) to take up, receive
   a) used of a place receiving one
   b) to receive or grant access to, a visitor, not to refuse intercourse or friendship
     1. to receive hospitality
     2. to receive into one's family to bring up or educate
   c) of the thing offered in speaking, teaching, instructing
     1. to receive favourably, give ear to, embrace, make one's own, approve, not to reject
   d) to receive. i.e. to take upon one's self, sustain, bear, endure
3) to receive, get
   a) to learn

When I look at this definition, I imagine a little child holding out there hand to receive a gift their Father is giving them.  There is an expectation and joy in the place of receiving something good.  I imagine the child grasping this gift in their hand, recognizing that it is their gift because the Father has given it to them.  There is no thought of earning or working, only receiving and taking it in their hand too examine and enjoy.  A child will often not comprehend the actual value of the item that had been received, and I believe that is in play here as well, for all of us are like children in our understanding of the true riches of the Kingdom of God.

Finally, the fact that the way we receive the kingdom is critical to our ability to enter into the Kingdom, should cause us to review our attitude and heart.  I think for me this means that it is not complicated and it is related to our heart attitude.  We don't earn it, we receive it!  It's not out of the ordinary, it is part of our life. In the same way we receive it, we should give it away.

Lord, help us to welcome Your Kingdom!  Help us to take hold of it and embrace it with all our life, for it is a gift from You!