Daily PresenceSample

Thanksgiving is known for many things. Pumpkin pies, cinnamon-scented candles, leaf-themed centerpieces, and turkey crafts. But most importantly, Thanksgiving is about one thing; who is sitting at the “kid’s table” during dinner.

For my family and many others like it, the “kid’s table” is like the Thanksgiving overflow space. Whether there’s just not enough room, or Grandma doesn’t want the kiddos handling the fine china, the “kid’s table” is for anyone who doesn’t make the cut.

Typically the adults sit in the staged dining room with the very finest plates, silverware, and serving trays. Off to the side, just a little way down the hall, the younger crowd gathers around the foldable card table, sits in mismatched chairs we store in the attic, and eats off paper plates. This is just the way it’s always been done and there’s actually something very fun about it! No complaints here.

Jesus looks at the way we do things in this world and loves to shake them up. When we see the small and the weak as secondary and powerless, Jesus calls us to change our perspective. In Matthew 18:3-4, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Jesus doesn’t see value in man’s pride and wealth. He sees true honor in the humble and the gracious. He says in Matthew 18:10, “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.” Can you imagine a world where the humble are exalted and the smallest are made great? This is the Kingdom Jesus describes and it is nearly the opposite of what we experience here on earth. Jesus calls us to see success differently. Not in our possessions and our own strength, but in the way we act like servants, through humble hearts.