In Singapore, Children’s Day is celebrated annually on the first Friday of October. This year, Children’s Day falls this Friday, 4 October. It is a day for society to remember the children among us, a day when schools are closed, and kids can be kids – running around the playgrounds and exploring the world around them.
When many of us were much younger, we could not wait for adulthood. Adults had money to spend, adults could stay up late, adults did not need to ask their parents for permission for every single thing they wanted to do. Of course, as we grew up, we realized that being an adult involved getting a job to have money to spend, that one often stayed up late to rush a work project or put a fussing child to sleep, and that even though we did not have to ask our own parents for permission anymore, it meant that we needed to make our own decisions on EVERYTHING.
In the book of Matthew 18:1-4; the disciples asked Jesus a question, and Jesus gave an intriguing reply:
At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:1-4)
The disciples had been engaged in a dispute among themselves, regarding who should be the greatest (cf. Mark 9:33-34). Jesus took a little child and used him as a teaching example for the disciples: that they needed to “become as little children,” or they would not enter into the kingdom of heaven. The one who humbled himself like that little child would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. What did Jesus mean by this statement?
The Greek word translated as “little children” in Matthew 18:3 is the word “paidion”, which means a young child / infant. Infants are completely reliant on their caregivers for everything – milk, warmth, a change of clothes when they have soiled themselves. Without their caregivers, infants would be completely helpless.
Jesus was not commanding his disciples to physically become a little child once more – for that would be impossible (cf. John 3:4b). Rather, Jesus said that they needed to “become AS (i.e. like) little children” – humble and completely reliant on their caregivers.
Who is our caregiver today? Why, our Father in Heaven of course! He knows what we need even before we ask Him (Matthew 6:8), but He wants us to humbly turn to Him and bring our requests to Him (Matthew 7:11), just like how a little child instinctively turns to his caregivers for milk and warmth. Our Father in Heaven wants us to humbly submit to His instructions in everything we do (1 Peter 5:6), just like how a little child follows the instructions of his parents, or face the consequences for not doing so.
This Children’s Day, when you see the little children out and about clinging tightly to their parents’ hands, stop and ask yourself – are you clinging tightly to the hand of our Father in Heaven, by humbly submitting to His will in everything we do? We have a wonderful God who is so great and powerful, who cares for us – why not cast our cares and worries on Him (1 Peter 5:7)? As the children’s chorus goes:
My God is so BIG! So strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do, for YOU!
The mountains are His, the valleys are His, the whole world is under His rule
My God is so BIG! So strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do, for YOU!
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