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He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.  And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19:2-4)

During this holiday season, I have been blessed to spend time with family including my grand-nephew and grand-niece at ages eight and five.  Their energy, innocence, and enthusiasm for life are quite impressive and overwhelming at times. Sure, they have their moments of disobedience or not liking the firm direction from their parents…but overall they are trusting, affectionate, and obedient children. I credit this to the Godly parenting they are receiving from united Christian parents who are very balanced in their control of their children, yet giving them a lot of latitudes to play, ask questions, and interact with adults in a secure way. In these dark days of COVID and global unrest, these kids are almost oblivious to the threats around them. I’m sure they are hearing the conversations about all the issues of the day and are affected somewhat, but their parents spare them from having to prematurely deal with the details and fear of the uncertainties that face most adults. They trust in the care of their parents and simply follow them in love and adoration because they have been loved and adored.

I woke up this morning thinking of this as they hit the road back to Dallas and this above scripture came immediately to mind. I more than once asked my 5-year-old niece to share some of her abundant energy with me and we started touching with index fingers each other’s shoulders pretending to absorb “energy” from each other. I think this is illustrative of how God touches us and fills us with faith by his spiritual “energy”. I also felt envious of their simple worlds of learning, playing with great imaginations, and unbounded curiosity at so many simple yet majestic wonders of the world. It also struck me how blessed these kids are to have a secure mom and dad united in providing for their needs, educating them, and firmly but lovingly “keeping them in line”.

The analogies for me are obvious. When Jesus said we are to come to him as a child, it is meant that we are to know and trust Him like a child loves their parents. God demands obedience and respect but in return, He provides security and mutual trust.

When kids are young, they don’t understand the reasons for all the rules and directions at first until they get older. They don’t understand why they can’t have everything they want or do anything they wish because it would be detrimental to them and/or others. As they grow and mature, they will understand better and be thankful for the boundaries they had behaviorally.

Finally, it is amazing to me how these kids grow in the image of their parents while yet having unique personalities and traits. This process of nature through the DNA is another proof to me of how God has designed the world in a combination of order and change.  No matter how long we live, we are a part of our parents and families. We share each other’s DNA and yet make daily choices on how we spend our time and determine our future accomplishments by the individual decisions we make today.  Each day of a child’s life builds on the memories and instructions that will determine who they uniquely become.

It is not too late for me in my sixth decade of living to become more childlike in my faith.  I am still learning to trust God simply because He made me…not just for what He does for me.  Yet part of trusting is accepting what He gives me…in instruction, gifts, provision of food, shelter, and clothing…and not comparing myself with what others have or how others act. I am to accept the authority of my Father because He has proven his love for me by sacrificing His son through death on the cross so I had the ability to be adopted into His family. He sees me as one of His sons. He directs and sometimes punishes me as one of His sons. He has a vision for me as one of His sons. He will always be my Father even if at times I have denied Him or rebelled against His will for my life. I am to follow His examples and directions for me to the end of my days. Most importantly, I have a Father who will never leave me or forsake me even to the end of time.

How wonderful is life with my Father and the Christian family He has given me! They fill me with love and I have nothing to worry about in this world as a child of God.