9-12 He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’
13 “Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”
14 Jesus commented, “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
15-17 People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. “Let these children alone. Don’t get between them and me. These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.”
Jesus requires his disciples to return back to have the simplicity of a child, and the humility of the tax man that they can enter into God's Kingdom. God's Kingdom is a gift from God to people who know that they do not deserve but at the same time gladly receiving it like a child.
My Master Jesus, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your invitation to receive your Kingdom. Give me always a heart of gratitude to respond to your calling. I do not deserve it but now I receive a wonderful opportunity in my life to be your Kingdom's messenger. Kingdom's life becomes so precious to me that I should respond without hesitation. Humbly, gladly, and enthusiastically receive it. Keep my heart with purity like a child that every day to me is an adventure to explore and experience God's leading and shaping in my life. May your glory and abundance be manifested by how I live out your Kingdom's life you have endowed to me.
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