Like Little Children

11/12/2011

Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.

Bible Verse of the Day: Mark 10:14-15 " Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

The Bible is full of references to little children. It is something that is obviously very important to God. How we are to raise them up and train them in the ways of the Lord, Proverbs 22:6, the responsibilities that we have in raising them properly, Colossians 3:21, and how we discipline them will be things that we are held accountable for before the Lord. But the above verses had me bewildered for the longest time. What does it mean that unless we receive the Kingdom of God like a little child we will never enter it? Well, I think that it has to do with two things that became clear to me over some readings and some other scriptures that began to shed some light on the meaning. Little children are humble, fully recognizing and accepting their dependence on others for their survival and they are willing to listen to instruction in most instances ( add jokes and disclaimers here ) to further their growth. When we are little children, we have no agenda of our own. We pretty much do what our parents have in store for us at any given moment. We may wish to change up the plans or itinerary on occasion, but we don't have the means necessary to accomplish it, meaning money or transportation, so we go with the flow. The key is that most of the time, kids not only want to please their parents, ( add jokes and disclaimers here ) but they actual like being dependent on them. They are free to play and enjoy living life while the parents plan out their agenda and fill in the calendar. I believe the meaning of the scriptures above is along these lines of thinking. We must not only recognize our need for our savior Jesus Christ, but we must also accept it. In humility, we admit that our sinful nature will lead us to our grave and we must depend on someone greater than us to lead us from our predicament. We need to follow a teacher with more wisdom and love than we can ever accumulate. He knows what is best for us. We must learn to listen to His will, and turn our agenda over to him. Our hearts should be joyful as we are freed up like little children to enjoy life and focus on our stability in Him. Matthew 18:3-4 seems to confirm this train of thought, " I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." So this seems clear to me now that we must completely reverse our way of thinking in order to change and become like little children. Most of my early life, say from 12 years old on, was spent wanting to grow up fast and gain my independence, proving to myself and my parents that I could survive on my own. As I became a college student, I didn't want to live under their rules any more. At a certain age, this is mostly a great sign of progress in our lives, when we can move out of the house, support ourselves and make our parents proud. It is the same goal the parents have for their children. However, what the Bible is telling us is that while that is all well and good, and we should be all that we were created for using the God given gifts to the best of our ability, we also should be aware that we have an eternal destination that requires us to humbly admit our dependence on somewhere far greater than us. We must go forth with this as a main tenant of our life and become like little children in our acknowledgement that we can't get there on our own. When we not only recognize this fact, but also fully accept it, then we can truly begin to change again, to humbly learn to have the mindset of little children, and to trust in God's plan for our lives. For He truly knows and wants what is best for us. May we find freedom in that truth. Matthew 18:5-6 tells us how serious God is about this humble conversion process and the consequences for anyone who would try to interfere with it " And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." See the world through the eyes of a little child, fully and gratefully dependent on your Father in Heaven, and that will make God smile.