To Be Like A Child

Watching my granddaughter, I am understanding the words of Jesus even more.
Jesus loved the little children.
Jesus wanted the little children to come to Him.
Jesus did not want anyone to hinder them from coming.

Jesus said that we must become like little children.
To our grownup self, that may seem preposterous.
We are already grown up, thank you very much!
Why would we ever want to be like little children again?

Anyone around children knows that they go through phases.
Sometimes, a certain question is forever on their lips.
If I hear that question one more time, you say to yourself.
Usually the question that tries our patience is, Why?

Right after you answer the first, Why? question, another one will be on its coattails.
Except for that fact that it can be exasperating after a while, it is a wonderful question.
How else are children supposed to understand their world?
How wonderful that they want to understand the perplexing things they see around them.

It is said that the Why? question is the simplest to ask and the most difficult to answer.
The Why? question demands thought.
The Why? question cannot be dismissed.
The Why? question is asking so much more than three little letters can convey.

As I watch my granddaughter, who will be one-year-old very soon, I hear another question.
What’s that?
She will ask that question numerous times.
She always asks the question while pointing to an object.

Is is not an exasperating question.
It is a wonderful question.
It is a, stop and take notice, kind of question.
It forces you to pause.

What’s that? as a large bunny hops across the yard.
What’s that? as the neighbor’s dog is just across the fence.
What’s that? as she notices the wrist splint on my left hand.
What’s that? as she finds a pair of eyeglasses fascinating.

My granddaughter is trying to understand her world.
There is so much to see.
There is so much to explore.
There is so much fascination with the smallest thing.

And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

You cannot be around a child without catching their joy.
Their joy is contagious.
Their joy is pure.
Their joy is seen in every movement from their head to their toes.

Imagine how delighted God is when we become like little children.
We are not to be childish rather we are to be childlike.
There is a huge difference.
To be childlike is to be innocent.

It is to be fascinated with the smallest thing.
It is to be curious about everything you see.
It is to be aware of all that is around you.
It is wanting to know and understand God’s world.

What if we became more aware?
What if we laid our stuffy grownup selves aside and began to be amazed?
What if even the smallest thing fascinated us?
What if we were in constant wonder?

Wonder.
What a fabulous word.
Wonder is defined as rapt attention or astonishment at something.
Wonder is our response to something that is awesomely mysterious or new to our experience.

For a child, everything is awesomely mysterious or new to their experience.
A child lives in a state of wonder.
Frederick Buechner said, To be wise is to be eternally curious.
Eternally curious; how I love those words.

Perhaps that is what Jesus meant when He said to become like a little child.
Become eternally curious.
Wonder at all of creation around you.
Ask, What’s that? and give God the glory when you discover the answer.

I love to read  the many works of Wendell Berry.
Wendell writes about, place.
Wendell suggests that it takes a lifetime to really know your place.
There is wonder in every blade of grass, every rock, every plant, and every animal.

It takes a lifetime.
We often do not stay in one place to really know it.
We get restless.
We move to another place.

Perhaps Jesus was watching a little child pointing and asking, What’s that?
Can you imagine how much Jesus enjoyed answering that question?
Can you see the joy in His face when He explained His Father’s world?
Can you see the moment when He remembered being right by His Father’s side at creation?

I was there when he set the heavens in place,  when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind. (Proverbs 8:27-31)

Think about it.
I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.
That is wonder.

Go about your day, pointing.
Not pointing at other people in judgment, rather pointing to God’s creation in wonder.
Ask, What’s that?
Be eternally curious, amazed at God’s wonder all around you.

2 responses to “To Be Like A Child”

1. So true! We need to have the mind and eyes of a child sometimes to appreciate God’s beautiful world.

   Reply

   • Amen, Sue!

     Reply