The Way of Faith

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.                     -Matthew 18:2,3
 
    Jesus answered his disciples in response to their question concerning the kingdom of heaven. In practical terms, Jesus was teaching His disciples how faith is conceived and works. While meditating on this passage, the word ‘converted’ leapt from the Bible’s pages and burned in my heart. After a little research, I found that ‘convert’ means to turn, turn around; to turn one’s self. It means especially to twist, then to turn, bend, steer; and finally, it means to turn one thing into another.
    Jesus tells his disciples that if they want to be great in the kingdom of heaven or possess great faith, they must be converted. Remember, He’s talking to his disciples; he is not talking to those who don’t know him. He is talking to those who walked and talked with him daily. In my opinion, this charge is quite amazing because these men had to give up their former lives to follow Him--surely that kind of a sacrifice should constitute enough of a conversion! However, Jesus seems to tell them their initial sacrifice or turn around was not enough. This passage asserts there is yet more change required—a change so drastic that it is comparable with the first conversion!
    The last definition above says the Greek word for ‘convert’ means to turn one thing into something entirely different. In Revelation 11:6 this definition rings loud and clear; the text says the two faithful witnesses would have the power to turn water into blood! 
    Jesus says His disciples, those who had walked, talked, and followed him, would have to be turned into something they presently were not to enter the kingdom of heaven or have great faith. Remember, this is after they gave up their lives to follow him. Even more astonishing is that he instructs them that they would have to be converted into a child. One would think Jesus would instruct them to convert to some accepted spiritual giant like a priest, a king, a prophet, or something with great status attached to it. However, Jesus has a way of using what the world refers to as foolishness to confound the wise--he simply said become like a child.
    What is the meaning of this intense metaphor? Because of how life presently exists on this earth, the idea of faith is discouraged and even mocked. The assumption is that over time, through the course of normal daily living, the average adult's faith is greatly hindered or destroyed. Therefore, Jesus says we adults must convert back to a child to have faith. Jesus says the average adult has grown to discard faith, and to regain it must be preceded by a conversion. Christ says an adult must convert from someone he is presently and again become like a child…to believe.
    Why a child? I believe Jesus used a child because children possess an inherent ability to believe. For example, in general, children accept anything that mom and dad say. A child believes implicitly; all children possess the propensity to believe easily. Contrary to the standing belief of our culture, Jesus used a child to show how one must believe without needing sense knowledge, or without needing proof! Wow! This is a direct contradiction to all we are taught in our upbringing! From the time we enter school until college graduation, children are instructed not to believe easily! We are taught to learn to discern; don’t be a follower; don’t talk to strangers; don’t go into your friend’s house; and never, never, never get into an automobile with an unfamiliar person! At every level of life, we are trained not to trust, but to believe only after first questioning!
    Now we can better understand why Jesus said we must be converted! Children dream, they imagine, they believe whatever you say, no matter who you are. The more far-fetched, the more children love it. Interestingly, the God kind of faith that moves mountains and changes the world requires us to dream big, see the invisible, and do the impossible!
   If you are going to do something great, you must first believe it. You cannot believe unless you go through a conversion process to become like a child. Go to a child and ask him what he thinks about life--let him/her teach you faith!!
    I admonish you today to just make a conscious decision to believe something you know you cannot do! The impossible is everywhere around you…you certainly don’t have to look very far. Will someone step forward to convert to childlike faith? Will it be you?
 
To Your abundance,
Pastor Derrick Jackson
 
 
Quotebit
"If you cannot save money, then the seeds of greatness are not in you."
-W. Clement Stone