Childlike Privileges - 9 of 12
September 1, 2019
Today, we’re going to take a breather from heavy, we’re going to remain on topic, but we’re going to look at faith differently. For while faith is awesome, faith is good, faith is serious and faith is intense, I don’t think God wants us to look at faith as heavy. Instead we know He wants our faith to fill us with joy, for our pursuit of Him to fill us with joy, for our seeking Him by faith because of worthy to fill us with joy.
The words of Jesus: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NKJV)
Jesus wants our seeking in/by/through faith to be awesome, good, serious and intense; but He doesn’t want it to be heavy or burdensome or impact our lives in this way. Instead we know He wants our faith to fill us with joy, for our pursuit of Him to fill us with joy, for our seeking Him by faith because He is worthy.
“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 18:2-4, NKJV)
This word - childlike - is more than the flavor our faith in God ought to have; it is the flavor God wants our faith to have. It describes all the beautiful things about children (trust, joy, innocence, curiosity, wonder and forgiveness). Which, by the way, is vastly different from childish, which encapsulates the worst things about our fallen nature (petulance, immaturity, obnoxiousness, selfishness).
The fact of the matter is this: in our childlike faith, we can ask open and honest questions of He who created us - questions to which we yearn to know the answers, questions that leave us feeling vulnerable. That said, in our childlike faith we can expect answers and are to trust them, especially when we don’t like what we hear, and be satisfied in our relationship with God.
The great gift of this privilege awaits us every moment of every day, and begs us to open it with more than reckless abandon, with paper flying and eyes wide open, but with a heart filled with joy and embraced with a childlike faith.