In these two paragraphs Jesus talks about the kinds of people that will enter the kingdom of God. First, He talks about those who are like children. These are the unpretentious, unimportant, that come to Jesus open and willingly with a childlike faith. Those who hold on to their own rule and authority in their lives will not make it. What in your life do you still want to control? What aspect will you not give to Jesus? He continues to drive this point home with His next encounter with the man who has been called “The Rich Young Ruler”. We could spend much time here but for sake of brevity let’s just say that this guy thought He was pretty special. Whether sincere or not, he wanted Jesus to justify his righteous living and perhaps direct him in the one little thing, if anything, he needed to make it to the kingdom. Jesus, being Jesus, however, nails him to the wall and gets right to the heart of the matter. This guy was rich and when it came down to it, he loved it more than Jesus. Perhaps it was the comfort, or status, for authority, or stability that if gave him or some combination of them all but he trusted and enjoyed his wealth more than what Jesus was offering him. How often do we do the same? The truth is, when we don’t think that we have to rely on Jesus for our daily food and shelter we so often will chose something other than Him. Why follow Jesus when we can follow ourselves? Why have eternal rewards when we can have temporary reward? Why pursue the Kingdom when we can pursue ourselves? Do we really believe that Jesus is offering something better? Let us drop everything, no matter what it is, and follow Jesus like a child. After all, Jesus doesn’t get lost.
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