The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And he called a child to himself and set him among them, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’”

—Matthew 18:1–4

If we understand our place before God, there will be no vying for position. We will have no illusions of ruling with him in heaven, but rather fall down before his throne, even the greatest of us casting our crowns at his feet (Revelation 4:10–11). We will always see ourselves as children in his household, not masters.

We will know that there is only one Master—our heavenly Father. Only he is worthy of being greater than any other. We and all our brothers and sisters come on equal footing to his throne—helpless, dependent, and unable to earn our place in the kingdom. 

This doesn’t mean being a child requires nothing of us. What a father really wants from his children is love, relationship, trust, and obedience. And just as an earthly child is expected to grow, we’re all to mature in the faith—to learn and grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18), in maturity (Ephesians 4:11–16), and in obedience (James 2:26).

And how freeing to live as a child, trusting our Father’s direction, knowing that he is capable of handling all that comes in this life, unconcerned with earthly position, and relaxing into the fact that he loves us wholly and is always with us!

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