Become Like a Child

On By vickleaIn Uncategorized

I’m in my late sixties now and I still recall some wonderful memories of my childhood. I recall sledding down a big hill on our street. I remember rolling down the grassy hill that led to our backyard. I remember sitting on the porch and playing or reading. Childhood is so innocent and full of wonder, isn’t it? I’m getting to see it again when I visit our grandchildren. Their wonder at the simple things that we take for granted is opening my eyes again to the wonders of God’s world that He created for us to enjoy. For a child, every day is an adventure, full of new things to explore and learn about.

Children are instinctively driven to explore and discover. They neither dwell in the past nor settle for the present, but look forward–with an unquenchable curiosity–to the future, fueled by wonder and an immense capacity for enjoyment. -Nicky Gumbel

This quotation was part of a Bible study that I did with Nicky Gumbel on the You Version App a couple of years ago. It touched me so much that I copied it into my nots and have thought about what it means to be a child. As I watch our grandchildren, particularly the younger ones, I see that each of them does have that since of curiosity that never goes away, always looking for something new to explore and enjoy. Perhaps that is part of what God meant when He told us to be like little children.

Instead of exploring our physical world though, I think that God wants us to explore and discover all of the truths that He is revealing to us about His spiritual world. We can only do that as we read His word, with eyes wide open to the wonder and majesty that is God. Children accept the truth that we tell them because we are the adults and are supposed to know things. What we should be presenting to children and to ourselves is the truth of God’s Word, the unchanging Word that has the plan of salvation for us. But to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we have to have the curiosity and the sense of wonder that a child has. We need to love others without question, and we need to forgive quickly, knowing like a child that our relationships with others depend on our keeping our hearts open to them. Just as we learn to live with others here on the earth, we also learn what it meant for Jesus to sacrifice and to forgive with His last words here on earth.

It’s a shame that as adults, we become so busy with our lives and our work and our hobbies that we forget the wonder that each day presents. Sometimes we forget to be thankful for the sunshine and the flowers, for the birds and the bees that fly around the garden. I don’t know about you, but God is speaking to me to become more childlike in my attitude…more full of wonder and thankfulness and forgiveness and love. I think that only then can we see more of God’s kingdom as He means for us to do. We need to open our eyes and hearts, just as a child does…open up to all that God has for us and then wait for Him to show us His majesty. Blessings for a wonderful day full of childlike exploration of the truths of God!

15 thoughts on “Become Like a Child”

  1. leeposkey's avatar Lee Poskey

    That is a beautiful truth that you shared with us miss Vickie. Thank you for taking some of your time to communicate that excellent truth with us.

    Also, I shared with my wife Melissa, that nice song that you once posted “someone worth dying for”

    Have a great day 🙂

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  6. Young children tend to be so trusting, so easy to believe things, so easy to abandon themselves to whatever it is that grabs their interest. Healthy children usually are fearless, which can be good, and it can be bad. They are not cynical. They tend to take people at face value and believe what they tell them, and that, too, can be good or bad. But, in relation to God, they more easily believe what the Bible says and they don’t question it, and they will do what they believe God says or will say what they believe to others without fear of rejection, unless, of course, they have already faced abuse and rejection for sharing their faith. And, they will pray with much faith, too.

    My passage for today is Hebrews 11, which is the “faith chapter” of the Bible. It gives us great examples of men and women of God who had childlike faith, in that they believed God even when they couldn’t see with physical eyes what he was telling them. But, they stepped out in faith, with that innocent faith of a child, and they did all sorts of wonderful things because they trusted in the Lord, even when it didn’t make sense, even when they were afraid, for they believed God. And, so when I read what you wrote today, Vickie, it immediately plugged into Hebrews 11 for me, that this is what it means to be like a child, to trust God with such pure innocence and trust.

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      1. Thanks, Vickie. How kind of you! All praise goes to God for anything good that comes out of my mouth, though. Yet, I appreciate your affirming and encouraging words back to me.

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