God wants us to come to Him humble like a child, but the Bible never exhorts us to have “childlike” faith, at least not in so many words. In Matthew 18:2 Jesus says that we must “become as little children” in order to enter the kingdom of God. The context of Jesus’ statement is the disciples’ question, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (verse 1). In response, Jesus “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. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me’” (verses 2–5).
There is no virtue in being childish, but as Jesus implied in the scripture above, we should never outgrow our childlikeness. As His children, God first wants us to be vulnerable, in a position of recognizing our need for His care and protection. Second, God wants us as His children to trust Him—to trust that He made us, knows us, loves us, is with us, and enjoys us. Third, God wants us to remember no child is fully developed —let alone perfect.
My beloved brothers and sisters, as children of God, we are always in a process of growth (aka) works in progress, which our Father understands and accepts. God made us to be dependent on Him, with needs such as love, affection, acceptance, and a sense of belonging. God highly esteems dependence as a characteristic of our ongoing condition and position with Him. WE never outgrow our NEED to lean on Him, TO BE weak or vulnerable SO THAT HE CAN BE STRONG on our behalf.
Undoubtedly, children are valuable, unique, and special to God Himself. Don’t ever forget that He planned for us from the beginning and knit us together in our mother’s womb (Pslam 139:16). We are never too grown of Jesus and when we emulate the faith of a child, we are not responding childishly, rather we are simply choosing to take God at His Word. As children trust their earthly fathers, we should trust that our “Father in heaven [will] always meet all of our needs according to the glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
Pray with me!
4GIVEN 