Who will be the greatest there? Jesus was asked this question by his disciples, who seemed to argue over this.
📖 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:1-5
We need to come to Christ with an innocence,….or to try to remove things that adults seem to carry with them like pride, cynicism and distrust. We need to come to Christ with the awe and wonder of a child.
In another account of the same conversation in chapter 9 of Mark;
📖 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Mark 9:33-35
If we need to argue over who will be the greatest....I feel we have missed the point of Christ's ministry here, His sacrifice, and the whole idea of heaven.
📖 For truly I tell you, until
heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a
pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore
anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others
accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever
practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of
heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness
surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly
not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:18-20
WHEN:
when should we make our plans to go to heaven?
We might be saying we are young…well some of you are,
I am in good
health, well some of you are,
we might sit through Sundays thinking that this
is not a pressing matter. “not ready to
make a life change, need to “think” about it.. all kinds of answers and excuses….but Jesus
said
📖 ..... “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come
near.” Matthew 4:17
The time is now….if the kingdom of heaven was near when Christ walked the earth how much more so now!
Okay, so
excuses aside how do I?
📖 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which
has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in
no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which
we must be saved.” Acts 4:11-13
📖 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:9-13
I am going to end with Jesus' words...
📖 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:1-7
I included Home by Chris Tomlin in my first installment of this series...and I would like to wrap it up with I Can Only Imagine by Mercy Me
If you haven't seen the movie I would recommend it!
No comments:
Post a Comment