and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Each day I'm faced with some new moment that shows me that children are not so little any more. We love our kids, and being with them all the time means we do not get to see the jumps in growth the same way that others do. But it is getting to the point where I'm ready to take down all the pictures of our kids when they were littler because it is just reminding me all the more that they are growing up so fast. My oldest son now wears my show size, and has a voice as deep as mine at time. Makes me sad…
Every time I muse on this subject I am almost immediately reminded of all the passage in the New Testament where Jesus refers to the little children. They are so important to Him. He desires them. He wants them to be near Him. Let them come (Matthew 19:14), bring them to me (Luke 18:16), do not forbid them (Mark 10:14), receive them (Mark 9:37), He touches them (Luke 18:15). I realize that in these passages, Jesus is speaking about/to actual infants, small children running and playing, and that can sit on His lap. But the analogy is that they are like so many of us, young and impressionable in their faith. I'll grant you, I'm a bit large to be sitting on most people's laps, but the lap of Jesus is big enough for any of us.
I am most intrigued by the fact that Jesus tells us that we must become like children to enter the Kingdom. If you have been a believer for long, you have reviewed or at least heard this verse taught. We talk about the attitude of a child, the simplicity, the vulnerability and especially the innocence of the child as points to mark in our own lives. If we can just look at faith and our relationship with Jesus on those levels, it sure seems like things would be so much easier to understand, believe and trust. How true this is, and these are certainly points we need to consider and focus on as we study and meditate on this passage. But I see more.
What about progression of growth? What about growing in knowledge to the point we begin to think and understand things in a more mature way? As we all know, not all children are the same. They analyze things and assume things differently. A two year old does not think the same way as a five or eight year old. As we get older, we are expected to handle the same situation in a more mature manner.
I think Jesus real point is the simplicity of it all. I understand how children are oh too often the victims. Adults make things over complicated or over-look our children way too often. The most glaring example of this is the children's table at family dinners. Granted, some of this is simply a matter of space, but how many of us relegate our children to the basement, or another room as soon as dinner is over?
Jesus example is to have the children close, interacting with us, using us as an example, and us always loving them. But to use the analogy of being like children in order to get into heaven, means we must be constantly placing ourselves in the shoes of children as we seek to understand God's will in our lives. It does not mean we have to act like two year olds, far from it. But it does mean that we have to act and react with simplicity and love. We need to react by being available and always wanting to be with the Father. It means we need to examine how we are thinking, and are we analyzing and meditating on scripture in a way that is equal to our maturity, in this case in Christ?
If you have been a believer for some time, it is time to look at what God has you going through in your life with the eyes of a mature believer, but with the heart of a child always wanting to be pleasing to the Father with little or no prerequisite as to how the outcome might make us feel. If we are seasoned believers being over looked, being spiritually sent to the basement or a different room, or relegated to something less than what we all are in Christ, EQUAL (Colossian 3:11)! Apply the simplicity of faith to your daily walk, and as you mature in faith, seek not to complicate that faith, but rather to put that simple faith to work in more and more areas of your walk.
Being 'as a child' does not mean we become "Toys-R-Us"® Christians where we never grow up. What is means is that AS we grow up, we keep the heart of a child, always wishing to be on the lap of the Father.
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