Can God Be Little?

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?’” Matthew 3: 13-14

If you and I are really supposed to be imitators of Christ then we have certainly got our work cut out for us, haven’t we? Let’s face it, God is humble and we are not. As much as we realize that we need humility, it is so hard to achieve. Perhaps this knowledge should be enough to keep us humble—that no matter how hard we try, it is beyond our grasp, our power, our efforts. Only in Christ and His grace and by continually asking Him for this gift, can we ever hope to grow in humility.

But grow in humility we must, for if we want to be like God, then we have to be humble. If we really, really dwell on the Scriptures, it should amaze and astonish us at how humble God is. Why? Because He does not need to be humble. Think about it: when we are being proud, we are going to either end up looking stupid or like a jerk because either we aren’t as good as we think we are, or if we are, others don’t need to be reminded of it by us. But God is perfect love, He is all-powerful, he really DOES know everything. So He can’t look stupid and He won’t be a jerk. And yet He is humble. Why?

God is humble because He wants to allow us to have free will and to use that freedom for good, to accept His love and to ultimately love Him back by loving others and by obeying His commands. And of course all this takes humility. So God does not simply teach us about humility, but He SHOWS us humility by His example time and time again: coming to this earth as a helpless infant to be cared for by His own creatures, being born in a dirty stable without fanfare, living in relative obscurity for 3o years (except for that one “get-lost-from-your-parents-for-three-days-and-go-back-to-Jerusalem-and-preach-to-the-elders” thing), by allowing John to baptize Him, by washing the disciples’ feet, by allowing His own creatures to torture and kill Him. And ultimately for continuing to love us time and time again when we do not love Him back. He forgives us and His mercies are new every morning. We should be blown away by the awesome humility of our God!

And yet it is in this “littleness”, in this emptying of Himself for us that God proves His greatness. Unlike the gods of mythology who use their power for selfish interests or to destroy, the Almighty God of heaven and earth seeks so much to be in love with you and I that He brings Himself to our level, to be even smaller than us, so that He can be accessible to us and so that we can truly experience relationship with Him. And in responding to this love, we come to realize His greatness and His goodness which should move our hearts to imitate the Great One.

Dear Jesus, as You made Yourself “little” for me and emptied Your life for my salvation, may I be willing to humble myself and sacrifice myself for others. With Your grace, all things are possible. Help me to imitate You today. Amen.