Matthew 18:2-5 Jesus says we must become as little children to enter the kingdom of God. This speaks to our pride, self sufficiency, and hypocrisy. Moreover, it emphasizes our innocence, pureness of heart, obedience and trust in God. We cannot come to God intellectually. We come to Him by faith. Through God’s calling or unctioning our spirit, we accept Him. It is a child-like faith. It is liken to children trusting their parents. It is a supernatural faith.
Children have a special place with our Lord and Savior. In the Bible we see Him inviting them to come to Him (Matthew 19: 13-15, Mark 10:13-16, Luke 15:18-17). Jesus could see the innocence of children while He walked the earth. Further, he knew they trusted and believed in Him. Over and above that, only they could see and experience things with Him that some adults could not.
Our attitude, in connection with our relationship with God, should be that of a child. This is what Jesus wanted us to know in Mathew 18:2-5. It should embrace God with trust and belief. Jesus never said in His word that we had to figure it out. No where in the Bible calls for us to figure things out. It does call for our faith, trust, and belief (Hebrews 11:6).
Recently, I heard the account of Stephanie Ike Okafor, author and podcaster, trying to get her 15 month old baby to go to sleep for the night. She shared how it was a struggle this particular night. She decided to turn off all of the lights in the room. Suddenly, streams of light started appearing in the room. Stephanie was wondering what was happening. Her 15 month old baby started jumping up and down in the crib yelling, “Amen” over and over again!
Again, the innocence of a child. The 15 month old was able to experience and see God in a way the mother could not. As soon as the mother heard her baby yelling, “Amen” she realized God’s presence. The baby was quick to recognize God while it took some time for the mother to see. What a beautiful illustration of child-like faith!
Not experiencing child-like faith is typical of adults. We can have it if we are willing to trust God and be vulnerable. Invariably, we lose much of our innocence as we see more of Satan’s distractions in the world. It is why the Bible says we are in the world, but not of the world (John 17: 15-16). Additionally, we must renew our minds everyday (Romans 12:2). We truly must become like children, in attitude towards God to have the abundant victorious life He has promised us. Love & Blessings!