When I was just a young believer leading a house church, a pastor from a nearby town, about 30 miles away, invited me to speak at his evening service. When I arrived at his door a couple of hours before the meeting, he was visibly shocked at how young and small I appeared. His jaw dropped when he realized I was the guest speaker for that evening's service. Surprised by my youth, he said, "But you are so young!" I replied, "I’m trying to get older, but it takes time." Don't be discouraged or think that God cannot use you because of your youth or lack of experience. Walking with God happens one step at a time, and He can use whomever He chooses. David, Jeremiah, and Timothy were all young when God started using them. We often believe that God only uses the big names and the wise or knowledgeable, but that’s not true. God wants His power to flow through us, regardless of our age or background. It's not about what we know or how much wisdom we’ve gained; God loves to use those who are new in their faith.
I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Matthew 11:11; emphasis added).
What do you think Jesus meant by saying, "he who is least in the kingdom of heaven"? My view on this verse is that John the Baptist, although a great man of God, did not possess the Holy Spirit in the same way that true believers in Christ do after He came on the Day of Pentecost. God did not give the Holy Spirit to all believers until Jesus was glorified.
“…By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:39).
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17; emphasis added).
I believe the least in the kingdom of heaven refers to someone who has just begun a relationship with Christ—someone who knows very little about who they are and to whom they belong, yet living inside them is the Spirit of the Living God, the creator of the universe! The one who is least in the kingdom of God has incredible potential but has not yet discovered what they can do with that potential.
A Christian is in a spiritual union with Christ, which is known as being born again (John 3:3), and with the Holy Spirit living in us, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). Paul encourages the Corinthian believers by saying,
“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?” “…He who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:15-17; emphasis added).
If you have trusted your life to Jesus, you have entered a covenant with Almighty God. You are sons and daughters of the one who bought and paid for you with the precious blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Start believing what God says about you! Keith Thomas