July 18
Childish v Childlike
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. ––Matthew 18:2-4
A rite of passage for West Coast kids is their first time to Disneyland, or for those east of the Rockies, Disney World. I was 10, and my mom and two of my sisters drove down from San Jose in our Marquee station wagon armed with a sweaty fist full of A, B, C, D, and E ticket books (E being the best ticket). I just couldn’t believe a place like Disneyland existed. I wish I could have bottled that kind of unfiltered, pure joy and excitement.
When Chrissy and I got married and we started having kids of our own, we lived less than thirty minutes from the Happiest Place on Earth, and loved taking our children there. It was—and still is—like reliving those childhood memories and that sense of wonder.
I think God plants that kind of wonder in our hearts when we are children to give us a glimpse of His love and a foretaste of the incredible place Heaven will be. Jesus talks about childlike faith a great deal—that kind of innocent, full-hearted, pure love that a child possesses. Of all the ways Jesus could have described the process of coming to faith in God through Him, He used this one: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again … no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:3; 5). He drove this point home when He rebuked His disciples for attempting to stop children from approaching Him and He said, “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15)
While we are called to have a childlike spirit—humble, searching, trusting—we are warned not to be childish. There’s a big difference. Paul says, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me” (1Corinthians 13:11). It’s about having the spiritual posture of a child, but putting away childish, immature behaviors.
Lord, I get stuck sometimes in childish thinking where I try to deny or otherwise run away from problems. Help me embrace a child-like spirit that continues to experience that sense of wonder and gratitude in the face of Your love.