Time to be a kid again!
It sounds great doesn’t it?! Back to BMX days! Back to making bows and arrows! Back to being a camper at church camps! Forget the news at 6, back to children’s TV at 4! Forget the mortgage, back to saving up for summer holiday spending! We grow out of it all too quickly!
The time comes for us to join in with the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:11 and say, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
But there are some parts of our childhood that we dare not put away. This became clear to Jesus’ disciples when they began to rebuke parents for bringing their children to Jesus in Mark 10:13. They reckoned that Jesus’ ministry was not child’s-play and therefore these little ones were an unnecessary distraction for the Lord. v.14 goes on, “But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.”
BRINGING OUR CHILDREN TO JESUS
There is a great lesson here that we need to learn again and again; we need to bring our children to Jesus! The current lockdown measures have largely ended the parental taxi service where we take our children to football, ballet, hockey, BB or GB, or the different children’s ministries in our local church. But there is another, more spiritual taxiing that needs to be done – we need to take them to the Lord.
They need this service every day, “bring them to Me”, says Jesus, “don’t hinder them.” The Lord understands that our children need Him - they’re faced with many temptations, insecurities & a rapidly changing world. And they have an innate rebellion that their parents have passed onto them. They need more than what we can give them! They need the Good Shepherd to lead them in paths of righteousness, they need Him to restore their soul, they need His forgiveness, His mercy, His goodness. You get the picture? It’s Jesus Himself they need.
BRINGING OURSELVES TO JESUS
But you and I need Him too. That’s the second great lesson we need to draw from the words of Jesus here. Even though we may be grown-ups now, our need for Jesus has not diminished. It’s not just our children who are faced with temptation, insecurity and a rapidly changing world! It’s not just our children who have a deep-seated rebellion inside! We need the Good Shepherd too! We need His help, His guidance, His forgiveness, His restoration… we need Him to pursue us with His goodness and mercy.
We need Jesus the way our children need Jesus. Isn’t that what Jesus is saying in Mark 10:15? “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."
We need to regain something of our childhood then – time to be a kid again! Jesus said it, “of such is the kingdom of God”. That is, the kingdom of God is made of people who are in some way – like children! What is it exactly about children that is so vital for us to recapture? What is it in particular about children that prepares us to enter the Kingdom of God?
Jesus says that its one thing in particular…children are good at receiving.
When we grow up it becomes more and more engrained in us that we’ve got to earn our way in the world, but before those days came, we gladly received so much! Children are good at receiving Christmas presents, Easter eggs, Birthday presents, presents from Auntie Florence posted all the way from Australia! Have you ever heard a child say “I couldn’t possibly receive this gift!” – probably not…
“What is it exactly about children that is so vital for us to recapture? Jesus says that its one thing in particular…children are good at receiving”
When we get older, we get a bit more proud & self-sufficient. We begin to think things like “I don’t need your charity!” We get cynical about things that are free. We say things like “You get what you pay for…”
But at the very heart of Biblical Christianity is a free gift that must be received as a little child. The free gift of God’s salvation: all our sins laid on Christ crucified; all His righteousness given to us. All this received by simple faith. If you think like a child – you’ll say “that’s totally class!”, “That’s just amazing!” and a “Thank You, Lord Jesus!” You’ll thank Him for the cross, you’ll believe it was for you and you’ll follow Him with heart and soul.
But the danger for us grown-ups is that we hear the Good News of Jesus and think cynically: “I remember hearing all that in Sunday School; that’s just a story for wee kids, but I’m a grown up now!” Don’t miss that greatest gift ever given, don’t miss heaven, don’t miss eternal life! Perhaps it’s time for you to be a kid again.
