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Luke 18:15-17
On the heels of teaching to be persistent in prayer followed by presenting ourselves to God in prayer in submissive humility and not an attitude of self-righteousness, the people brought little children and infants to Jesus in hopes that He would bless them. The disciples, however, rebuked the people from doing so because they did not see any importance of blessing immature undeveloped children who had not yet reached an age of accountability. Jesus, however, rebuked the disciples because the attitude and heart of the children is a representation of the heart, mind, and soul that is necessary for one to receive eternal life in the kingdom of God.
This is an example of presenting ourselves to Jesus with an open heart, mind, and soul.
This is a requirement to receive the kingdom of God.
When these children were presented to Jesus, they were not holding back any secrets of their lives or areas that they did not want to open to Jesus – they were transparent. This is how Jesus desires us to be in our lives – with no closed doors in areas that we refuse to open to Him. Jesus died to pay the price for all our sins, and that means even the ones that no one but you know about. God knows all, and He knows about the sins that we are trying to hide from Him, but He cannot forgive us of those sins if we will not open the door to them from our heart and let go of them. We must first reveal them from our own hiding spot to Jesus; if we don’t ask, He won’t forgive. We must first confess our sins to Jesus in humble submission to Him in knowing that He has the power to release us from them. Jesus has already paid the price for those sins too; let Him have them so He can set you free from them. His resurrection proves that He is more powerful than sin, death, and Satan. He is powerful enough to forgive all your sins. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and He desires to share true life with you, if you will open all the doors of your heart to Him.
Dear Lord,
Please help us to see that the attitude of a child with nothing to hide from You is the way in which we need to present ourselves to You – open and vulnerable; in submitting to You all our sins that we may receive forgiveness and true life in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. In Jesus name I pray, amen.