Jump Start # 1690

Matthew 18:3 “and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

  Jesus said the words of our verse today as he called a child over to Him. The Lord did this to answer the disciples question about position. They wanted to know, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?” This will not be the only time that they wonder about this. We want to be # 1. We want to be recognized, praised and paraded about as the greatest. We want to believe that the company, the church, or, even the world, can’t function well without us. As famed boxer Ali proclaimed, “I am the greatest.” That thinking doesn’t work in the kingdom. Jesus doesn’t have any place for that. Become like a child, that’s what impresses the Lord.

Last week, I got a great lesson in this verse. My wife and I went with our daughter and her husband and their two-year-old to Disney. We spent three days at Disney. It was crowded. It was hot. It was Disney expensive. But none of that mattered because we were more excited to see the expression on a two-year-old’s face and her experience than anything else. There was one ride that we rode over and over because that’s what she wanted to do. We met so many princesses, I didn’t know who many of them were. We ate in the Beast’s castle for dinner and had Mickey Mouse waffles for breakfast. Our little two-year-old did great. She went to sleep in her mother’s arms and never had any melt downs. All through those three days at Disney, I kept looking at the little two-year-old and thinking about this verse. Be like her.

Here are a few things I learned.

Adults worry too much. At the end of the day, tired of a full day, the two-year-old could go to sleep. I found myself waking up at five in the morning, thinking about Jump Starts to write, sermons to preach, up coming presidential election, things I need to do at home, money, and people. It’s hard for adults to let go. It’s hard for us to sleep well. We can’t live like a two-year-old and just play every day. Some try that and it doesn’t work. We have to be responsible. We have to live in a grown up world, but there is an innocence that we seem to lose because of all the problems in the world. More shootings. More racism. More things wrong. Those thoughts keep us up at night and they bring fear and misery to our days. They keep us from enjoying the simple things. We worry too much.

  Adults lose the sense of awe. I think this is one reason why everyone loves Disney. It is a magical place. It brings the child out of us. There was a moment, standing in a long line waiting to meet a princess, that we saw a group of ducks walking about in the grass. Our two-year-old was fascinated by those ducks. She pointed, talked to them and was amazed. She did the same thing when she saw princess. She pointed, got her picture taken and was amazed. It makes me wonder if we have lost the sense of awe when it comes to worshipping our God. Have we seen everything? Has it become normal or even old to us? Is there nothing that makes us point in amazement. I think one memory from this trip that I will never forget, is the expression on the two-year-old’s face and the sparkle in her eyes when she saw things for the first time. There was nothing like that. I hope that I will have that same look when I see Heaven. The Psalmist spoke of the awe of God. We can get so wrapped up in the mechanics of worship that we fail to see who we are worshipping. What an amazing God that we love and follow. Have you considered just what God has done to your life? It doesn’t matter how hard you have had it, God has been there. You have been blessed. Prayers have been answered. He has never left you. He has never given up on you. He has loved you even when you were out in the wilderness of sin. Then there is that cross—that old rugged cross. What He did for you is amazing.

  Adults have issues with trusting. Princesses are beautiful but to a two-year-old they can be overwhelming. She would point to them and get excited, but when one actually came over, immediately our granddaughter would turn to her mommy and want her mommy to hold her. Most of the pictures with the princesses have my daughter holding the two-year-old. She wouldn’t stand there on her own. But in her mommy’s arms, everything was ok. The world was fine in her mommy’s arms. In the airport, on the plane, on the bus to the park, as long as mommy was right there, all was ok. She had no idea what state we were in. She didn’t know anything about the costs of this trip. She didn’t even know that the princesses weren’t real princesses. None of that mattered. She was having a great time and all was ok, because mommy was right beside her. Wow! If we could only live that way with God. Fear. Worry. Unsure. Just reach out to God. We feel that we have to know everything. We want to figure things out. We want solutions. We have to know why. And in thinking this way, we eliminate the need to be close to God. Become like a child. I wonder if Jesus was driving at this trust factor. A rich kid and a poor kid can play together and they don’t care about or even understand who has what. A black kid and a white kid can play together and they don’t get bogged down about racism. Kids can get upset with each other, say mean things, and within the hour are back playing together. They don’t keep things in. They don’t hold a history. There is something there that adults simply can’t get. We remember. We get bothered. We separate because of differences. Someone says something mean and you won’t find us sitting down together an hour later. We’re done. It’s over.

Become children. That’s the greatest in the kingdom. It would do well for all of us to spend an afternoon with a two-year-old. You don’t have to go to Disney. You can just walk about in the backyard. So pure. So trusting. So innocent. So kind. Become like that.

Thanks, Brynnlee, you helped me see some things that I had forgotten!

Roger