Things Our Parents Said to Us as Kids…
· If you sit that close to the TV, you’ll hurt your eyes.
· If you eat to much candy, your teeth are going to fall out.
· If you don’t wear a jacket outside, you’ll catch pneumonia.
· This hurts me more than it hurts you.
· Santa is real and so is the Easter Bunny.
· The tooth fairy only left dimes when I was a kid!
· There are starving people in Africa who would love to eat your supper.
· And my moms favorite, “I have eyes in the back of my head.”
Why did we believe our parents when they told us these things? Because we trusted them right? Because we believed that they knew what was best for us, and because we knew how much they loved us and always had our best interest at heart. We had complete faith and trust that what our parents said was true because they were our parents, and that was the only reason that we needed to believe.
Do you have this kind of faith in Jesus Christ? Complete trust? The kind of faith that we had in our parents when we were just children?
When I think about this, I think about how children function mostly on emotion, rather than reason. When a child is upset, they automatically run to the adult that they love and trust the most. Do we automatically run to God with our problems when we are upset? Do we trust Him the most, or do we trust our best friend first?
When children are afraid in the middle of the night, they automatically call out for their mommy or daddy, do we automatically call out for our Daddy, God?
When children are happy, who is the first person that they want to tell? Their parents. Do we automatically tell God first when we are happy and thank Him for the circumstances that led up to it?
When children are sad, they automatically want to be held, and when a parent says, “It’s going to be OK”, they believe it. Do you believe it? Do you believe that God holds you when you are sad and feeling down? Can you close your eyes and feel His arms around you? Can you hear Him telling you that everything is going to be OK?
Can you put your reasoning aside for just a moment, and concentrate on your childlike emotions? How does this make you feel?
God’s word in Matthew 18:1-3 says:
At the time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?’ 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.”
Being childlike means that you are content because you trust God, and you trust Him because You have complete faith in Him, no questions asked. You just know that He loves you unconditionally and that He always has your best interests at heart.
Here are some characteristics of childlike faith:
· Forgives easily
· Does not hold a grudge
· Full of love
· Worry free, not full of doubt
· Marvels at creation (Butterflies, frogs, nature)
· Dreams big dreams
· Eager to learn new things
· Creative
· And uncomplicated
Now, apply these qualities to your Christian faith, and when adult life seems to be taking you down, revert back to this list, and to your childhood, and know that Jesus always has your back. All you have to do is believe in Him, and unlike some of the things your parents may have told you, you can always trust that what He says is true!