Matt 18:2-6 He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.(NIV)
Luke 18:17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."(NIV)
Wow. How powerful is that. It is clearly important that we re-learn our perspective if we truly want to enter the kingdom of heaven. The concept of learning to accept or view as a child must be very important, for Jesus repeated it several times and at different places in the scriptures. So what is a child's perspective? How is it that Jesus wants us to act or live?
Children are open and authentic. The younger the child the more genuine their emotions. I believe that is why Jesus called a "little child" to himself to make his point. There is no question as to the emotional state of a child. if he's happy we know, if he's unhappy we really know. But there's no hiding the feelings, no deception, just authenticity and openness. This is how we are to be; open and authentic if we want to recieve the kingdom of heaven. So why do we lose this openness as we grow older?
I think people learn to hide their true emotions as a defense against vulnerability. Quite simply, the more open you are the more vulnerable you are. Rather than expose ourselves to the possibilty of someone hurting us because we've exposed our vulnerabilities we learn to mask them, to hide behind a false facade; we control what they know, so we limit the amount of hurt that they are awaere of. All too often we are deeply hurt and no one knows; we suffer alone, in anonimity, because we are hiding behind a mask of false bravado...
We also learn that, to hide our true emotions, can allow a measure of control over others, and they way the respond to us. We can maniplulate the reactions of others toward us by our emotional responses. We can dictate, we can control. Just the opposite of what Jesus calls us to do. He wants us to surrender control, to allow his Spirit to lead and guide us. He wants honesty, and authenticity to be our response, vulnerability to be our goal. For in his kingdom, in his perfect creation, it is the willingness to submit to the Father, the open vulnerability to his will that leads to perfect community with him. We must be willing to give up control of our lives, stop thinking that we, in our flawed and finite state, know what is better for us than our perfect and infinite all-knowing Father, and allow him to guide us in our few short years in this world... It amazes me that, in our arrogance, in our limited knowledge, that we assume to know what is better for us than does God, and that some are willing to gamble their eternity for the sake of the illusion of control in their life right now.
Father, please instill and grow in me an eternal perspective. Allow me to see what is really important eternally, and not be blinded by the temporal distractions of this world. I love you, because you first loved me. Amen.
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