Forever Young
Why Jesus Calls Us To Be Childlike
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
Matthew 18:1-5 (NIV)
Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
Matthew 19:13-15 (NIV)
If you’ve heard a sermon on these verses before, the first thing that came to your mind may have been, “God wants us to have childlike faith.” And yes, childlike faith is beautiful and admirable. But what if Jesus is talking about something other than faith? What if He is telling us not to outgrow our eternal Father?
Think back to when you were a small child with scraped knees and knotted hair. After a long day, you would climb up into a safe lap and rest your head on your mother's or father’s or caretaker’s breast. You were safe, you were home. Your youth stretched before you like an eternity. It would feel like a million years before you finally arrived at adulthood. But as you grew, the evening snuggles became more sporadic. You could soon reach the shelf with the cups without tugging on your mother’s shirt for assistance. You began to fold your own laundry and schedule activities yourself. You no longer had to ask for a ride to the mall; you just got in your car and left. No more mom gently wiping the sleep out of your eyes — just you in a tiny apartment brewing your own coffee, furiously rubbing your eyes with your own fingertips. Independent.
We long to do things ourselves. As we age, that longing becomes more profound, until we are so old that we are no longer capable of doing things on our own and we once again must subject ourselves to the childlike humility of dependence. Or, if in our midlife, we are faced with such a catastrophic event or a crippling decision that we can’t help but reach out for help.
What if that’s what God wanted all along?
We age out of needing our parents or caretakers for every little thing, and we have a tendency to do the same with our Heavenly Father. “I can figure this out on my own,” “I don’t need your help,” “I don’t want to be coddled like a baby.” Somehow, we grow older than our eternal God. We reject His wisdom, peace, comfort, and aid until we face something so terrible that we are forced back into that state of scraped knees and knotted hair. We look up and cry out, “I can’t do this on my own.” It must grieve the Father when He is our last resort. But with great joy, He gathers us up into his arms, just like He did with the children in Luke’s Gospel. He calls us sons and daughters and gently wipes the tears from our cheeks, strokes our hair, tells us to cast our burdens on Him, because He cares for us.
Jesus said, “Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Keeping our hearts young and dependent is rooted in humility. It is based on laying down our egos and the need to prove ourselves worthy. It is a daily admission that we can’t do anything on our own. It is the unabashed crawling into the Father’s lap, tugging on His sleeve for help, relaying to Him all of our hopes, dreams, fears, and misgivings.
Lord, help us to stay forever young. Keep us as humble as tiny children who have no one to look to but You.