April 16: ON BEING A CHILD AGAIN

Children of the Bible are fascinating but ordinary people. By now we have almost taken their humanity from them and made them near perfect role models. Let us affirm the fact that they challenged us because they were “real”. If their “being real” is not taught to children today they may conclude that they are holy cartoon characters or fairy tales.
While children sometimes get bored with stories of the boy David or the boy Timothy and want to hear something “new”, the child in me never tires of the truths these characters learned in their childhood and the life-focus that it gave them.
The child in me still thrills as God calls the boy Samuel and he answers God immediately “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” (I Samuel 3:9 NIV) or the ministry that the boy David had to the tormented King Saul “Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul.” (1 Samuel 16:23 NIV) Consider the naïve youth Joseph dressed in the fancy clothes that his father gave him as he goes obediently for his father delivering the message (Genesis 37:23) that his jealous brothers cannot accept. It was the young girl Miriam faithfully guarding her little brother Moses (Exodus 2:4) who was the unique link in God’s chain of love to deliver the children of Israel. It was the young boy Mark watching the arrest of Jesus that had his life so deeply impacted by the event that he became a gospel writer. (Mark 13:51 NIV)
These characteristics of trust, openness, obeying, inquisitive, loving, following faithfully are exhibited by other children in the Bible. Maybe that’s why Jesus said about kids “of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 19:14 NIV) Wasn’t it great when you were child-like and had not yet become cynical? Have you lost your “inner child” of faith? Has the world crushed out your child-like faith? You need to reclaim it. Folks around you could more easily be blessed by your having a child-like spirit.

“Loving Father, the world doesn’t need more childishness but really
childlike people of faith could make a big difference. Make me a child again.
Amen”