Childlike Trust
Devo #8
15 “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. (Mark 10:15-16 ESV)
This story in the Bible has had a great impact on me recently. In this story, the disciples try to prevent some children from seeing Jesus. He, in turn, tells them to let the children come and see him. What does it mean to “receive the kingdom of God like a child,” especially as we get older and have long forgotten what it meant to be a child?
I’m blessed to have been an eldest cousin to four little ones, when I was a teenager they were all very small. Now they are all entering their teens. One of my “little” cousins is graduating high school this year! Now I’m an aunt to three kiddos under the age of five. When I spend time with my niece and nephews and they ask me to play (which is the biggest compliment ever), I’m always struck by their imaginations, their capacity to understand, and their trust. Everything is new and beautiful. Isn’t this how we should see a friendship and relationship with God?
Loving, full of imagination and curiosity, open to new ideas, open to being wrong or right, and overall, trusting God with the deepest faith. A child trusts implicitly and unquestioningly until that trust is broken. Inevitably, growing up is beginning to understand the true nature of the world. Broken trust is just the beginning of the overall brokenness of the world in which we live. But God will never break our trust! In this way we can always look to him with the eyes of a child… I often think this is what Jesus meant when I read this story, and this verse in particular!
Beautiful...