In the plain

"Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." Christ's teaching was not that there is something in us to fit us for the kingdom, and that a certain number of years may make us capable of receiving grace.  His teaching all went the other ways - namely, that we are to be nothing, and that the less we are and the weaker we are, the better; for the less we have of self the more room there is for His divine grace.
Do you think to reach Jesus up the steep hill of experience! Come down, dear climber; He stands in the plain.

~ Come Ye Children by C H Spurgeon