Like a Child

Luke 18: 15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

What a blessing is a child whose faith is pure, innocent, and simple. Everything is exciting for them - whether it be the fact that God loves them enough to give them food, to give them grass and flowers, to simply love them. It's all amazing to them. Enough that they go, "Is it really true that God really loves me?"

Faith - I believe - gets harder with age. We begin to question things around us, question God, question what makes this or that right and wrong, question what makes life worthwhile and how we can live it to make it worthwhile. And I don't think this is a bad stage of our lives, but rather, an important reaffirmation of our faith through consistent breaking and strengthening of it. Kind of like how we build muscle - we have to make little tears in our muscles, and then let them heal in order to build them until they're stronger. Just like our faith. But it's never an easy process, and sometimes, a big tear makes us leave the race.

There's much we can learn from children. Perhaps something very noticeable is that they take on the habits, the words, the actions, of the people around them, whether this be parents or friends. Sometimes this is for the very best if they have amazing parents and amazing friends, sometimes this is bad if they don't have such great parents or friends.

God calls us His children, and I like the analogy of receiving the kingdom of heaven like a child. Fully dependent that what God has in store for us is good. Modelling our lives, our words, our actions, after Christ. Having the fullest of faith that He will provide for our needs, and that He is going to love us and protect us.

This is the lesson of childhood, and the lessons that I have been learning from the children as I get to talk with them, laugh with them, and see the simple things of life through their eyes. I always come home filled to the brim with joy and laughter from their simplistic yet insightful comments about life and God.

It's never to late to act a bit more like a child.