Greg Chandler
12/08/13
Have you ever watched a school performance where young children were asked to sing? If so, you most likely witnessed a group of children who put everything they had into the song. With enthusiastic faces and loud voices, they performed for everyone to hear and enjoy. Such is reminiscent of the Lord’s words about discipleship when He said“truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”(Matthew 18:3). Consider the Lord’s expectations concerning the adoption of childlike qualities by His people.
Like a child, a follower of God must learn submission. Parents begin early training their children to respect parental authority. Discipline brings the child to realize that the ways of the parent are to be followed. After instructing to become like little children, the Lord went on to say “whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4). Humility can only come when respect is given to one in authority. As a child humbly submits to a parent, so a Christian humbly submits to the Father in Heaven.
This submission comes through trust. As a child sees a parent caring for the needs of life, he or she understands that the parent is looking out for his or her best interest. A trusting relationship develops between parent and child, even when it may appear the parent is not taking the correct action. In a child’s immaturity, the wisdom of a parental decision may not be obvious. Such is the case with God. Often, humans believe that they have the right answer and that God’s actions should mimic their own understanding. There is often sore disappointment when God chooses differently, to the point that some will lose their faith because they feel God has let them down. When such temptations come, the words of the psalmist should be remembered and applied: “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name” (Psalm 33:20-21). Solomon gave solid advice when he wrote “trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” ( Proverbs 3:5-6). Trust involves believing in God both in times when His wisdom is readily evident and especially in times when it is not. As a loving Father, His ways are always best for His children in the long-run.
When submission and trust are firmly implanted, the child of God will then pursue the ways of godliness as enthusiastically as the children described earlier. This should especially be the case in worship to God. Our excitement and energy about praising the God of Heaven should be evident to all, but especially to our Father. Far from a chore or drudgery, worship illustrates the love we have for the one who has done such great things for us. Apathy, however, can often rob us of this excitement. Such is often the case as children grow older. The same children who sang energetically in their younger years may feel very differently when they reach their teens. Somewhere along the way, excitement was replaced with apathy. This must never happen to the child of God. The same childlike enthusiasm shown when we were raised from the waters of baptism should be evident right up to the end of our walk in this life.
As we seek to be faithful children of God, we should remember there is a stark difference between being childlike and childish. Often, we allow the less pleasant aspects of childhood to appear in our relationship both with God and our fellow Christians. God has no room for followers who are jealous of one another, who fight with one another, and who simply develop the type of spirit that seeks trouble rather than good. He has no place for those who refuse to submit and fail to trust in Him. As we seek to follow our Father in Heaven, the childlike qualities described above should always win out over the problems of childishness that can harm both the follower and those around. When we can become as children in our service to God, our Father in Heaven has great reward awaiting. “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).