<p>18:17 <i>Truly I say to you, Whoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no way enter into it</i>- &lsquo;Be babes&rsquo; Peter later exhorted, &lsquo;and grow as they do&rsquo; (1 Pet. 2:2). The same word occurs here in Lk. 18:15 in description of the &ldquo;infants&rdquo; whom Peter rebuked. The Lord&rsquo;s response had been to tell Peter to be like them. And, having been humbled into learning something of a child&rsquo;s teachableness, a babe&rsquo;s desire for the sincere milk, Peter now asks others to learn the lesson.&nbsp;</p><p>The idea of &ldquo;receiving&rdquo; is often used about people accepting the Gospel. The implication is that one can receive the Gospel of the Kingdom of God- and yet not enter it, because we didn&rsquo;t receive it as a child. We didn&rsquo;t accept that we are the &lsquo;little ones&rsquo;, accepting we know so little, and just marvelling at the special grace being shown us which we accept in awed wonder. The language of &lsquo;entering the Kingdom&rsquo; is used both of our final entry into the Kingdom when Christ returns (Mt. 25:10,21; Jn. 3:5), and of our current entering the Kingdom. The rich man can enter the Kingdom right now if he sheds the load of his wealth (Mt. 19:23,24). The Scribes stopped and hindered those who were entering the Kingdom from entering, locking the door through which the Kingdom could now be entered, all because they chose not to enter themselves (Mt. 23:13; Lk. 11:52). So it&rsquo;s a case of &lsquo;Now but not yet&rsquo;. We do&nbsp;<i>now&nbsp;</i>enter into God&rsquo;s rest, and yet we are promised that we&nbsp;<i>will</i>&nbsp;enter that rest at Christ&rsquo;s return (Heb. 4:1-11). The Lord had warned that our righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes, or we will likewise not enter the Kingdom (Mt. 5:20); but that righteousness is in accepting the blessing of righteousness as a little child; for without&nbsp;<i>that</i>&nbsp;we shall not enter the kingdom. Those who do the will of the Father will enter the Kingdom (Mt. 7:21)- and that will is to be as little children and accept gifts without seeking to justify ourselves or earn them.</p><p>We will enter the Kingdom as shy children. It doesn't just mean that we must <i>now</i> be as little children, but more that we will enter the Kingdom as little children. For Jesus had just said that &quot;of such is the Kingdom&quot;. Children unspoilt by the hardness of this world and this flesh&hellip; this is how we will be as we walk away from the judgment seat into the Kingdom. And we should live the Kingdom life now. See on Lk. 12:37.</p><p>The Lord perceived spiritual prompts in the ordinary things of everyday life. He saw in those children the qualities of those who would be in His Kingdom. Those kids weren't 'spiritual' in themselves. They were just Palestinian kids with well meaning, superstitious mums who believed in the power of the touch of the holy man. Yet, the Lord explained, that was no reason to disregard them. They should be seen as reminders of spiritual qualities which should be in us all. And this was how He perceived everything in His daily round of life. He raised everything to an altogether higher level.</p>