Like a Child

"Truly I say to you, Whoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter into it."

                                                                                                                                   - Mark 10:15

I want to enter into the Kingdom of God, and I want His kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, but Jesus put this simple, and yet incredibly deep truth as a prerequisite to have it.  I have spent so many years asking God to show me what it means to be a like a child, and meditating on this Scripture.  I am far from having it all figured out, but there are finally a couple of things I can say I have learned.

The first is the most obvious and most spoken about when people mention this verse.  That is the fact that Jesus is not promoting immaturity.  He isn't looking for a bunch of spoiled brats who whine and complain.  Complaining is what got the Israelites stuck in the desert for forty years.  God hates complaining.

I am so blessed to have a five year old son, and I study him all the time to see what he's good things he is doing that I can learn from.  Here is the biggest lesson I have learned from him so far, that I am determined to apply to my own life, and as I do I discover how much God likes it.

Children are unashamed to be who they are even when the whole world is watching.  As I write this post, I am watching my son sitting on the floor a few feet away playing with toy cars.  He is not embarrassed at all to make car noises, shout when he is about to make the car crash into another, or completely change the whole game.

He doesn't care that I am watching, and he doesn't care that other people hear all the goofy sounds he is making.  What he does care about is if someone tries to stop him.

Children are going to be themselves, holding nothing back.  We would be wise to do the same, because God made us who we are because he likes our personality.  Society and culture tries to mold us into a certain image, but God made us all different for a reason.

You of course know I am not referring to being offensive, saying unwise things, and so on.  I am talking about Godly behaviors.  For example.  Let's say you are walking in the store, and suddenly you are filled with joy from God.  Most of us would hold it in because we would be ashamed to react to it in front of strangers, or even family who might be watching us.

If it was a five year old, and God suddenly touched him, what would he do?  He would clap, laugh, shout, or however he wants to react individually.  My son Elias would take off running down the aisle and run laps around the store until he couldn't stand any more.

Only adults worry what other people think of them, children don't care at all.  If my son was running up and down the aisles and people laughed at him, or criticized him, all he would do is look at me to see if I was upset about it.  If I wasn't he would just keep going and laugh at the other people.

That should be the response of all of us.  We should be brazen and unashamed of our light, and if people criticize we need to go to God and ask if they are right, because sometimes God uses other people to speak to and correct us, but if we are safe Scripturally, and the Holy Spirit does not tell us we are doing something wrong, keep on running!

God wants us to be free!  Don't let anyone else hold you back.  Leap with joy and click your heels for Jesus.  Pray for the next sick person you find regardless of what people think, talk to Jesus out loud right there in the store.  God really likes to see His children walk in freedom from the fear of man.

"Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostril; for in what is he to be esteemed?"  Isaiah 2:22