Luke 18:17 As a Child
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

Luke 18:17

New King James Version (NKJV)

17 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."

Children believe in the impossible. If you tell a child a fairy tale, they will believe it to be a true story and will listen with great enthusiasm. They take things at face value.

I have found in my own life and in those around me that as we grow older we lose a lot if not all of that innocent freedom children have in believing the impossible. As adults it seems we are secretly excited about what the Lord is doing and yet we keep our composure so as not to look foolish; whereas a child’s excitement is unhindered expression.

David knew how to express himself with honesty. His trust in the Lord, gave him the confidence to show his excitement with genuine enthusiasm. He danced wholeheartedly before God and when he cried out to the Lord he did so with uninhibited emotion. He was neither dignified nor deceptive about his expression.

David believed God much as a child would. He knew that God was God in every sense of the word and he didn’t try to put on airs so not to appear as something he wasn't. He was a simple man of God. He even admits that he did not run after things too complicated for him. David was not pretentious. Even as king he was completely transparent before the Lord and sought God’s wisdom, strength and guidance. David was aware he had limited knowledge and he repeatedly put himself and the outcome into God’s hands. This kind of trust is a vulnerable place to be but David allowed himself to be open and transparent and He accepted ridicule and judgement against him, knowing in his heart that God would defend him.

To trust God completely is a rare and priceless ability. It is a great effort for some of us to lean on God with complete abandon. Many of us think we are trusting God completely and yet in reality our trust is quite limited. Why is this? Why would it be so hard to trust God to the depths of our being? It is because we are afraid to give up control? Giving up control is one of the most frightening prospects to a human being. To be childlike is to give up control. It is to act out the trust one has toward God.

Challenge: Ask God to heal those areas that prevent you from being free and childlike. Allow Him to work in your life so that you can become that free and childlike vessel of God.

God bless

Marni

Go on to: Luke 21:15 Wisdom
Return to: Food for Thought
Return to: Christian Living Articles

The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.