"Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Mark 10:15)I've always wondered what, exactly, it was about a little child that Jesus was referring to? On the one hand, little children are completely self-centered. But on the other hand, they are also completely dependent on someone else for their very lives. In John 3:3 Jesus says that a person must be born again in order to see the kingdom of God. I suppose when that happens you start over as a little child. You start as a blank slate and are completely dependent on God for your very life.
Another statement of Jesus in today's reading really jumped off the page at me. He says it after he has told the story of the shrewd (I would call him dishonest) manager. (This is one of Jesus' parables that I also find intriguing. I've never really been completely satisfied with the interpretations I've read.) He says it directly to the Pharisees who, it is noted in Luke 16:14, loved money...
"What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight." (Luke 16:15)It is true that our priorities are often screwed up. And it's not just with money. I've often thought that many of the things that occupy so much of our time and energy are really not important to God at all. But Jesus says that those things are important to God. They are important in the sense that he hates them.
I'm beginning to think that living life could be described simply as the process of learning to love the things God loves...and hate the things God hates. I think I have a tendency to forget about that second part.
No comments:
Post a Comment