July 17 - Like Little Children

Today's Reading:
Ezekiel 35:1-36:38
Matthew 18:1-20
Proverbs 16:18-27 
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Focus Verses:
Matthew 18:2-4
2 He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Insight:
Humility is essential to entering God's Kingdom. To live with Jesus as King and to enter into his purpose and will on earth, we need to be honest about our weaknesses and needs. We need to see ourselves as children without power, status, or ability to provide for ourselves. People who are seeking God must also have a childlike capacity for wonder, learning, and the acceptance of help and guidance.

Response and Action:
I must be humble before God, honest about my needs, and ready to receive his mercy and provision. I must have a sense of wonder that moves me to seek out truth and learn how to live with joy and purpose.

Dear Father, I need you. Help me to seek you with a love and humility of a child. Help me to know you more each day. Strengthen and encourage me through your word, your people, your promises, and all that is beautiful and true. Amen.

 Spiritual Formation Verses:  
1 John 3:1-3
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Resources:
A Childlike Heart: How to Become Great in God's Kingdom
by Alan D. Wright