SIMPLY BELIEVE

I was thinking this morning about the fact that I don’t understand a lot of the bible like so many others seem to. I have had this feeling before and if I let it, it brings me down and makes me feel like I shouldn’t be speaking in case I get things wrong. Then suddenly this morning I remembered that Jesus told people to believe like a child. (Matthew 18:3, Mark 10:15)

In Matthew 18:1 the disciples were asking who will be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. It seems to be human nature to want to be better than the rest. I admit to having flashes of ego and thinking that everyone will say how wonderful I am, then God finds a way to put me straight – thankfully!

However, Jesus said to them if you want to get to heaven be like a child. It sounds like an odd thing to say when we are told to become mature. (Philippians 3:15, 1 Corinthians 2:6, Ephesians 4:13, James 1:4).

This, at a glance, seems to be contradictory, but mature Christians should recognise that they are no better than anyone else. They have no more or less value to God than a child. Also, when a child believes something to be true, they accept it wholly and will tell others quite firmly. I think this is what Jesus means.

I remember a headmistress coming to me one day to ask me to keep my opinions to myself, as my daughter had caused a problem in the class by saying, “My mom says that Santa isn’t real and my mom doesn’t lie!”  She had been worried about this man who would come into her room while she was asleep, so I explained that it was a game parents play with their children. I also told her that she wasn’t to say anything, because it would spoil it for the other children. Obviously for some reason she felt she needed to speak up.

I was a bit embarrassed at the time, but as I’ve got older, I’ve thought, well I listen to other people’s opinions all the time and accept them as they are, they should do the same for me. Plus, it is actually true – I didn’t teach her a lie!

Anyway, I’m digressing. The point is, she believed wholly what I said and defended it! This is what children do. Also, they forgive continually. They fall out, sometimes quite badly, then the next thing they say is ‘Can I go to play with ….?’ Parents will say, “I thought you weren’t friends anymore?” and the child says, ‘well yesterday we weren’t but it’s better now.” Brilliant forgiveness! And to top it all, generally speaking, they know their place. They know that their parents have dominion over them, and they trust them. Christ has dominion over us and we should trust him because it is the dominion of a loving Father, not a bullying ruler! That’s the difference between good and bad parenting.

So, oddly to be mature, we must be like a child. We must believe wholly and speak it out firmly, not in a bossy way, just in a sense of honesty. We must be forgiving, and we must recognise that our God knows more than we do and give him the respect he deserves.

We may not always be right. But I believe God will forgive us our errors and guide us onto the right path. For our part, we should simply believe.

This is how I understand my God.

Read for yourself, see what you think.