BECOMING LIKE A CHILD. (The parable of Jesus)

 “Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. (Luke 18 vs 17. KJV).                                                                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                               

It is obvious that the Disciple that asked Jesus the question “Who is the greatest in Heaven” (Matthew 18 vs 1) would be surprised to the answer Jesus gave them. How come Jesus has to liken the kingdom of God to a child with everything that is in this world? “…And said, verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of God” (Matthew 18 vs 3kjv).  Jesus expressed himself very distinctly in this chapter of the Bible (verses 2-6 )  and it just us that need to examine the answer very well and liken the character of a typical child to the one who is preparing to enter the kingdom of God.

My thorough meditation on the subject dropped somethings in my heart concerning a child which I illustrated thus: Firstly I defined what each letter in the spelling of CHILD could mean as likened to the kingdom of God.

C-CAREFREE.

One of the characters of a child is being carefree. They are not afraid of anything; they don’t monitor themselves or take care at all. You will agree with me that it is the parent that watches over the children all the times. They don’t care about anything; whether what to eat, what to wear or any challenges of life and this is a character that is important in the life of a Christian. God really want you to cast your entire burden on him. In Matthew 6 vs 25, Jesus taught us about the love of the father towards us to take care of us in all ways. “..Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” (Matthew 6 vs 25). A child always has confidence that his parent is there for him and need not worry about a thing. He comes to you when he needs anything and believes in whatever answer you give to him. He really believe that you have heard him the very first time he has spoken to you and this is how God want us to relate with Him; being like a child. Reading through the whole Matthew chapter 6 really explains what Jesus meant by saying we must become like a child to even entering the kingdom of God and He actually gave us this assurance in Mark 11 vs 24….Therefore I say unto you, what things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

                You can’t take care of yourself, you can’t protect yourself, and even Jesus asked “which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature” (Matthew 6 vs 27).  But it is unfortunate today that we do live our lives as if we are the one protecting and providing for ourselves. You can try to do one exercise, Try to write down all your expenses for a month including every penny you spend and then compare to your income for that month. You will then find out that God is indeed Jehovah Jireh.

H-HUMILITY

This is one key character of heaven desired Christian. Being humble means a lot to man not even talking about God.  You can’t like a person that is proud that’s why book of proverb 21:4 says “An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin”.  But better it is to be an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. (Proverb 16:19). Jesus said “Blessed are the meek: they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5 vs 5). Children always obey their parent and elderly ones, they never think of being proud because they know they are children and nothing they can do. Same thing God requires from us to submit unto Him totally, not struggling with Him in making decision or in given us direction. Check your life; are you living like a child?

 I-INQUISITIVE.

Another character of a child Jesus wants us to emulate is being inquisitive. A child can ask about anything, anytime and any day. They never tired of asking, anything they don’t know how to do; they ask. If they see you doing anything or things are changing around them, they ask. God want us to ask Him anything, anytime, any day. He wants us to inquire from Him anything. He wants us to ask Him for directions and instructions before laying hands on anything. He wants us to see his word to us as the lamp to our feet and light unto our ways. He said “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not” (Jeremiah 33 vs 3kjv).  The promise of God to us is to hear us and give us more than we've even asked. Our problem is just to call upon him, casting upon him all our heavy burden, Forgetting He’s the only that can lighten up our burden. He’s the only wise one, we should forget about relying upon our earthly wisdom to do things again. When Adam and Eve Fell into temptation, they shew leaves to cover themselves but God shew them animal skin to cover them up. That is a typical example of God’s wisdom and Human wisdom. Live your life like that of a child, being Inquisitive. Inquire from the Lord before taking any step.

L- LEARNING

Children always want to learn about the past, the present and the future. They even will bring their school assignment to you for help; they come to you to tell them stories. God also want us to learn from Him every day. He instructed us to meditate on His word day and night (Joshua 1 vs 8). He want his words to dwell in us richly in wisdom; teaching and admonishing (Colossians 3 vs 16). He wants us to desire the sincere milk of the word like new born baby that we may grow. (1 Peter 2 vs 2).

            Jesus clearly instructed us to learn of him “…Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your soul” (Matthew 11 vs 19). We must always find time to meditate on His word, allowing Holy Spirit to interpret the word into our heart as a child always does to learn. This is a way we can learn the kingdom rules and enter therein.

D-DEPENDENT

Children always depend on their parent; they go up to them always for their needs. God still desire the same from us, He want us to always looking unto Him, the author and the finisher of our faith (Hebrew 12 vs 2). David said “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him” (Psalms 62 vs 5). He is saying that: God, I only depend on you for everything and I don’t have back-up.  “As the Hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee. O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalms 42 vs 2-3).  This should be our desire to depend on him for anything. David advise us “Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us” (Psalms 62 vs 8).

            In conclusion, the reasons to liken the kingdom of God unto a child are not far-fetched. He just wants us to inculcate the features of a child in our day to day life and to totally depend on Him, not living a careless life but a carefree life. You can’t be too much careful because you can’t take care of yourself, commit your ways unto the Lord, believe in Him and He shall bring it to pass.

            

    …..Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto thine understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3 vs 5-6).

Shalom.