Being Like Children
This past summer we enjoyed a reunion back on the East Coast with members of our extended family.
Steve and I shared a beach house with our two daughters, their husbands, and seven children from both families plus a few others.
We all talked about how to have a good time and not get on each other’s nerves, and how to give the six boys and one girl room to be kids and enjoy themselves.
Steve and I had a laid-back role as the older couple, not directly responsible for anyone and able to enjoy everyone. We knew it would be chaotic and noisy and that toys would be everywhere.
Let’s just relax and let the good times happen, we told ourselves. And so we did.
It was an absolutely wonderful week. The children all got along with each other and the adults were less uptight than they were at home.
We went to the beach most days and built sand castles and collected shells. At least one person always had a little one to keep track of since we were near the water’s edge.
The children were safe and at the same time had the space time and energy to really relish life.
Sometimes one of them would become engrossed in digging for creatures, and he’d want the solitude to do it alone.
At other times several of them would play with buckets and shovels and create their own imaginary constructions.
Why does the kingdom of heaven belong to those who are like little children? I think it must mean that we will all be most completely who God intended us to be without the inhibitions of adulthood.
We will be less guarded, knowing that we are safe in God’s care. We won’t have to be like everyone else but will be free to express ourselves in unique ways.
Since the Bible tells us there will be no more tears in heaven (Rev. 21:4), it must mean that we will laugh in the reckless way that children laugh.
They giggle with delight and double over with peals of joy.
There must be a lot of power that infuses our souls when we get to heaven to open up some of us to godly abandonment. Just to be free and childlike sounds like a tall order for many of us.
And I think God wants us to experience more of this godly abandon here on earth.
On a vacation, we can experience life without the responsibilities and restraints of daily life.
But what if we could be who God intended us to be all the time, not just on vacation?
Maybe if we infused our souls with the nurture of God’s love more frequently, we’d experience more fulfillment, laughter, and childlike peace.
God’s nurture comes from worship, time with him, time with other believers, prayer and just thinking about how much God loves us, and how much he wants to hold us the way we hold the little people in our lives.
And when the sun goes down and little people wind down they cuddle safely in the arms of those who love them.
I can’t think of much that is more peaceful than rocking a baby or an active toddler who gives in to sleepiness.
Father, thank you for the hope children give us that we will all laugh again in the innocence of our younger days. Help us to be more relaxed in your love.