Welcomed in the Kingdom

Date: Saturday, November 22, 2025

Readings: Jeremiah 22:18-30 | Luke 18:15-17

Jeremiah confronts a king whose legacy is marked by exploitation, injustice, and spiritual blindness. The prophet exposes the emptiness of power built on self-interest, an ancient warning that echoes into our headlines and cultural anxieties today. God is not impressed by strength without compassion or authority without integrity.

Then Jesus flips the entire script: the kingdom doesn’t belong to the powerful, but to children. To the vulnerable. To those who trust instead of perform. While the world rewards ambition, Jesus blesses humility. While corrupt rulers cling to status, Jesus lifts those who have nothing to prove. The kingdom Jesus describes is not fragile, not threatened by political chaos or spiritual decline. It is received, not earned, by those who come open-handed.

To enter this kingdom is to release the posturing, the defensiveness, the pressure to be impressive. It is to trust that God’s embrace is stronger than our fear and wider than our failures.

Devotional Prompts:

• Where do you feel the pressure to “perform” spiritually or socially?
• What would it look like to approach God today with childlike openness?
• How might the values of Jesus’ kingdom challenge your assumptions about power?

Prayer:
Loving Father, teach me to receive Your kingdom with a child’s trust. Strip away my pride, hurry, and fear, and help me rest in the security of Your welcome. Shape my life around the values of Christ’s upside-down kingdom. Amen.