LIKE A LITTLE CHILD

‘I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it’.Mark 10:15

These words of Jesus are so important that He precludes anyone who does not meet this criterion from even entering the kingdom of God. What does it mean to say that the kingdom of God needs to be received like a little child?

1. Uncomplicated belief:One key characteristic of a child is that he tends to believe without complex explanations. The ability to question and hence to doubt develops as a child grows into adolescence. The beginnings of life however are characterized by a simple trust. While the ability to question is good and makes people human, it can be a serious obstacle for one attempting to understand God. The breadth of God expands beyond the physical realm that we see and can make sense of. And so to confine our understanding of God to the physically verifiable realm ensures that we can never comprehend God or receive Him. Uncomplicated belief needs to trust, and to believe that God exists before we can even take a step closer to God. 

• Sense of wonder:The sense of awe and wonder is what makes childhood so special. As life begins to unfold as a little child, every thing around him and every experience he goes through is many-splendored. Like a sponge, he soaks up all he sees and handles. Awe and wonder accompany his life and makes life exciting and also meaningful. As he grows though, the sense of wonder fades away and experiences become dull with repetition. Familiarity breeds contempt and life becomes monotonous. He attempts to fill his life with new experiences to keep alive the wonder, but little does he realize that only a vibrant relationship with God can continue to keep him in the realm of wonder and awe.

• Simple trust:One of the most endearing experiences for a parent or a grandparent is the scene of their little one hurtling toward them and throwing themselves into their arms and snuggling in the comfort and security of their laps. It does not take much for a child to trust and as that trust is responded to and fulfilled in genuine love, the child is at peace and can be free to grow into an adult. It is heart-breaking when that trust is broken or when a child failing to find that security, expends his childhood looking over his shoulder to protect himself. Lest a person comes to Christ and finds comfort and security in a trusting relationship with God, he will never find peace. Fending for oneself has limitations but when man learns to trust God, he is free to soar to arrive at his full potential, the ‘summum bonum’ of life.

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