Scripture
“People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”
MARK 10: 13-16
Quotes/Color
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
C.S. Lewis
Context
An author I like, Andrew Klavan, put it this way… “There is a difference between being childish and child-like.”
Isn’t that good?
Application
It should be a goal for every person to leave childishness behind as soon as humanly possible in life.
Childishness is:
- Impatient – no concept of delayed gratification
- Entitled – no concept that the world revolves around the sun, not them
- Inconsiderate – no concept of their actions affecting others
- Selfish – unable to share or celebrate others’ wins
- Unserious – unable to focus when it matters
These things have to be identified and left behind. They’re damaging and immature. If you see these traits in yourself, go listen to some Matt Chandler and Dave Ramsey, let them yell at you and eviscerate this stuff out of you. (<— Joke.) These traits are not at all what Jesus is referring to when he speaks of being like a little child.
Jesus is talking about being child-like.
Being child-like means you…
Maintain Wonder
You come to Jesus with excitement. Excitement to be in His presence and excitement in what He will do. You believe that the presence of God is exciting and worth engaging with, running towards.
Are Creative
You pray creatively, as Richard Foster puts it in his book Celebration of Disciple. You don’t just pray for your friends’ new marriage (as an example). And that it “goes good.” And that they “are happy”. And that the bad days aren’t too bad. That’s very vague and unspecific… Instead, you creatively picture every little thing that your friends’ marriage will entail and you pray for those things. You pray for their Thursday night date nights at Chili’s. That they would laugh together. And become experts at knowing one another. And you pray for the moment that they get home from work and see each other years into their marriage. That they feel a feeling of love and “butterflies” renewed day after day, even when their company has become familiar. You imagine, like a child would. And let it bring color to your prayers to God.
Are Unconcerned with Procedure
You just want to get to the Lord’s presence. It may have been proper for the little children to ask the disciples if they could speak to Jesus first. Or maybe for them to wait in an orderly line and then go to Him one at a time and be on their best behavior. But that is not what I picture. I don’t think that is what happened. Have you ever been around kids before? They are kind of nuts. I bet they were running up, saying all kinds of embarrassing things, infringing on His personal space and asking him if he had a belly button. I bet their parents were a wreck. Being child-like before Christ means you run to Him like he’s been waiting all day to see you and not being concerned with procedure.
Something to Chew On:
- Is your heart more like the disciples in this story? Or the little children?
- Have you grown too proud to approach Jesus in a child-like way? What do you need to do to return to that?
- Are you making an effort to expel childishness from your heart? Are you making an effort to hold onto child-like faith?
GreatValue Proverb:
Leave behind childishness as soon as possible. Hold onto child-likeness as long as possible.