Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

Last night a seven-year-old girl went missing in our neighborhood for several hours. People gathered at the school near us and search parties were sent out trying to find her. We discussed the situation with our older children, and our three-year-old overheard and figured out what was going on. Even though it was well past her bedtime, and we had not discussed the situation with her directly, she went and put some shoes on. When I inquired what she was doing she informed me that she was going to find the girl her “friend.” She was thoroughly convinced that she was going to look for this girl that she did not even know, and she kept her shoes on for quite some time, continuing to assert that she was going to join the search. Gratefully the girl was found safe late in the evening. I was touched by my daughter’s unsolicited response to the situation: she wanted to find the girl. It was perhaps no coincidence that just a couple hours previously we had read these words of the Savior in our family scripture study: “At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1-4). My little child was indeed the greatest in my family last night: while the rest of us discussed the situation and speculated, she put on her shoes and was ready to go find the lost girl.

                Also in this week’s Come, Follow Me lesson is the parable of the good Samaritan. The story was prompted by the question, “Who is my neighbor” but that’s not the question that Jesus answered. After telling the story He said, “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?” In other words, while the lawyer wanted to know who counted to him as his neighbor, the Savior showed him who was a neighbor to others. The lawyer sought to classify the people around him; Jesus taught us to instead focus on who we are and how we treat others. In the account we read, “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him.” The first two must have been like the lawyer, finding a way to rationalize not helping the injured man as they passed by on the other side, each “willing to justify himself.” But the Samaritan instead let his compassion have more sway over his heart than any concern for himself or his own time (Luke 10:29-36). He didn’t ask himself if this man on the ground was his neighbor; rather he sought only to be a neighbor to him. The priest and Levite perhaps asked themselves, “Do I need to help this man?” and decided the answer was no; the Samaritan asked instead, “How can I help this man?” That is surely the attitude that the Savior would have us develop as we interact with those around us, letting our compassion towards others have more sway over our hearts than our justification. My daughter last night showed me what that looks like, and I hope I can learn to have a heart more like hers.