"Suffer the little children and forbid them not for such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." Mark 10:14,15
Our Lord is asking us to enter his kingdom as a little child, not as a mature adult. Mature adults know the ropes and can do lots of things well without thinking. A little child is filled with the wonder of discovery, attempting to imitate, without regards to perfection, what they see the big people around them doing. They make lots of mistakes and need much correction. In the same manner we come to know who God is and how he desires us to live in the new kingdom he has given us birth into. He knows we don't inherently know all of his ways well but he is delighted we chose to embrace his adoption into his family. He trains us very patiently, helping us at every step, sometimes allowing us to let us fall or fail. Our growth in faith in him is his goal. He is very interested in our becoming like him but he is not crushed or disappointed in us when we err for he knows we are clay.
"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby." 1 Peter 2:1 He gives us everything we need for life and godliness, including his word of Truth, which changes our old, deceived ways of thinking into his mind of Christ, full of Light, in a lifelong process called sanctification. If we start thinking we should be able to become like an adult, 'getting down' this being able to be like him, knowing the ropes and able to live holy without continual dependence upon him, then we haven't understood the nature of our new birth and have forgotten the depths of sinfulness from which we have been rescued. Continued humility as his child, content in his hands and in dwelt by his presence, begins from knowing the utter darkness of the vain life he rescued us from. He did not redeem us to live in the same manner as adults do in our fallen world.
The unspoken, ingrained motto of a little child is, "Anything worth doing is worth doing imperfectly." They want to find out about everything around them and care not at all about their skill level. When a child starts to value being right or looking all together more than exploring or experimenting in the world around them, their ability to learn begins to diminish. God never wants us to stop learning about the unsearchable riches he has bestowed on us in Christ! He is the one who changes us from the inside out. He is the one who makes us able to obey and learn his ways. He is the transformer.
God never desired that Adam and Eve would know the difference between good and evil. That is why he forbade them to eat of that tree. Little children do not trust in their ability to be good; they trust in their parents! Until a certain age, little ones are not aware they are their own separate person but rather see themselves as an extension of their mother. It is not that God doesn't want us to grow and mature in him and be a fruitful ambassador of his kingdom. Of course he desires that and makes it possible by his Spirit dwelling within us. However, he never wants us to trust anyone but him. He never wants us to trust in our own ability to be good, for apart from him, we have none. He is in us and we are in him and he is our Goodness.
1 comment:
What a beautiful post. Oh what a privilege that we can be his children and come as we are without worry about having it all together.
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