In one of my recent devotions, I read Mark 10:14-15. The words seemed to jump out at me and continue to do so day after day. I suspect you also can relate to that happening to you. Here is how that verse reads. “When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, ‘Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.’” Mark 10:14-15 (NLT2) The embolden words are the words that provoked deeper thought.
In the first place, the concept of the kingdom of God was Jesus’ most repeated messages. The above Bible quotation was Jesus’ words to Peter and another disciple when a crowd was waiting on Jesus to come to heal them or see healings. “Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come’” (Mark 1:38, NIV). He was saying He didn’t come to earth just to heal people. More importantly, He came to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God. That placed a premium on the good news of the kingdom of God. Strangely, the kingdom of God sounds like a foreign language to us these days.
What was it He was so concerned about? “The Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.” What was it about little children that He was intending to point out? He was referring to the innocent trust a child has for their parents.
He doubled down by saying, I tell you the truth, which in the Bible it means Pay very close attention to this because it is absolute truth! He is getting very serious when He then says, “anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it”. Woe!! There is no gray matter here! That grabbed my attention. Again, “like a child” does not mean you can only receive or enter the kingdom when you are a child. It is in reference to having the faith or trust in the King of the Kingdom as a child has for their loving parents.
The first question that came to my mind was, am I living out that level of trust in God? Do the choices I make witness that kind of trust in God and whatever His word says? Being impatient with God is childish, but is not childlike trust. There is a gaping difference here. Childishness in an adult destroys the very character of God. It is poutingly saying God has not fulfilled His promise to me. It implies God’s actions must be pressed into my time schedule and done my way. It is the frustration of a baby who cannot control his/her parents, which is the very opposite of trusting the parent’s love and wisdom. That is why I cannot judge God by my finite knowledge base. I must practice trusting and obeying, even when I do not understand or like it, as was the case with my wife’s death. God says, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine” (Isaiah 55:8, NLT2).
To enter the kingdom, one must become as a little child, not in the sense of innocence, but in the sense of simple unquestioning trust. I definitely have had faith. But as I have been seeking Him more intensely due to Connie’s passing, I can clearly tell my faith is becoming more childlike and that has been a strong encouragement to me. What might it take to motivate you to lean into knowing Him more? Is it going to require near crushing pain for you to move closer to God? Just remember how Jesus described the required type of faith that allows you into His Heaven.