Forgetting How to Be a Child
Matthew 18:1-4, NLT - About that time the
disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
Jesus called a little child to him and put the child
among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins
and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the
Kingdom of Heaven.
I can’t pinpoint when it happened,
but I know that I have known this scripture since I was a child. I suspect that my favorite Sunday School
teacher, Mrs. Harpe, taught it to me, but I don’t remember for sure. But what I do remember is that I claimed
these verses for myself. I didn’t hear
them from the point of view of the adult disciples Jesus was trying to teach
about childlike faith. I heard Jesus’s
words from the point of view of the child sitting on his lap while he taught the
grown-ups. I heard Jesus telling the
disciples to be like me. I already had
the childlike faith and Jesus was telling those men that they needed it.
The painful part about that memory
is that now, I’m on the other side. I’m
one of the grown-ups that has largely forgotten how love and hope and faith
like a child does. I had what Jesus was
holding up as the goal, but I lost it.
The really sad part of this that, most of the time I don’t even notice
that it’s gone. After all, I have so
much “grown-up faith” issues to deal with.
I have a full to-do list that never seems to get shorter, expectations
from countless others to live up to, and an internal dialogue that never stops
to wonder where that little child Jesus used as an example went.
Then I hear Jesus’s words again; ““I
tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little
children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.” I hear them and I remember what I lost. I remember a faith that had no need to
understand everything. I remember hope that
literally kept me awake at night about what seems to be the smallest of things
now. I remember love that was just
simple, humble, and didn’t make excuses.
Let me be clear. Growing up is not a bad thing. Lots of necessary things come to those who do
it well – responsibility, integrity, wisdom, etc. But those things are not supposed to be
obtained by shedding the faith, hope and love that comes from childlike
humility. Of course, there are some
things from childhood days that we can never get back – things like innocence,
endless free time, and limited responsibility.
But we are supposed to face the all-too-grown-up reality of the world with
the wonder and humility of a child. And
yes, that is tremendously difficult.
Some days it seems impossible.
But Jesus reminds us that it is necessary, less we lose sight of the
true nature of His Kingdom. Greatness in that Kingdom, Jesus says, is the
opposite of the greatness of the this world.
Question: As you hear
Jesus’s words in this passage, what do you sense you have lost and need to
recover?
Prayer: God, thank
you for loving me every minute of my life just the way I am. Help me to trust that love more fully. Help me recover the essential aspects of
faith, hope and love that I have lost on my way to other things. I want to participate in your Kingdom. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for people struggling with mental health issues today,
Song: Return to Pooh
Corner – Kenny Loggins – This is a song that seems to awaken childlike faith in
me. If it doesn’t for you, find a song
that does.
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