During a recent living
room dance party, God reminded me of how Jesus tells us in Luke that
"the kingdom belongs to such as these" (18:16). Who are the
"these" he is referring to you might wonder? Children. The kingdom of
God belongs to children. In Matthew he goes on to say "unless you change and become like little
children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (18:3). As
the music blared on the speakers and Penny jumped from the couch in to my arms,
the lyrics to the song playing rang true: this is what you do, you make me come
alive." She twirled and we spun and danced in a circle and the music
filled the room. It was there that God continued to show me glimpses of his
glory that he put in this little girl that he made and gave her to me for a
short time. In doing so, God has used her to make me come alive in ways that I never
thought possible and continues to do so.
Here, have a listen:
The more that I hang out
with my kiddos, the more that I see how true these statements are and the more
God opens my eyes to see what Jesus was talking about in the verses. For the
past three years I have been blessed to be the mama to one passionate little
girl and a sweet little man who God has been using to teach me about his
character and various other small lessons scattered amongst my days.
When you look at a child,
there is so much life and so much joy compiled in to one teeny, tiny person
that it is hard to believe it is contained so well and somehow does not burst
outward. Somewhere over the years as bones grow and the baby fat disappears,
joy is lost and complacency sets in. It is there that childhood is no more and
the slogan "life is hard" may ring true.
Finding Jesus makes you come alive, no matter the age. He awakens things in you that you may have thought were long over. You may find yourself enjoying things you did not think possible. Jesus has a way of awakening your soul and even returning you to that state of childhood euphoria and wonder and awe at everything around you. Like looking at your hand. Have you ever witnesses a baby examining his hand? The excitement and wonder found in something that he will most likely take for granted every day of his life. I pray that you would come alive and experience life through the eyes of a child with more anticipation and bliss than you have known.
Finding Jesus makes you come alive, no matter the age. He awakens things in you that you may have thought were long over. You may find yourself enjoying things you did not think possible. Jesus has a way of awakening your soul and even returning you to that state of childhood euphoria and wonder and awe at everything around you. Like looking at your hand. Have you ever witnesses a baby examining his hand? The excitement and wonder found in something that he will most likely take for granted every day of his life. I pray that you would come alive and experience life through the eyes of a child with more anticipation and bliss than you have known.
Here's just a few tidbits about attributes of children that God has opened my eyes to lately, and I thought I would share:
- They have a boldness about them, even the shy ones. They are confident and secure with themselves.
- Passion for what they are doing radiates from them. Even after you give them a time warning to end the activity it can still be hard to pull them away.
- They act the same in public and at home. They not afraid to be themselves. They do not care about what others are doing or comparing, they are simply happy to boldly be themselves.
Yes, they are super simple but the
simplest things make the biggest impact. Here's to truly coming alive in Christ
and seeing the world through the eyes of a child.