Devotion | Come as a Little Child

At the end of last month we welcomed our eleventh great-grand child.

A little premature, he has needed some assistance with breathing and feeding, but he’s a good size and just gorgeous. Not that I’m biased. We’ve welcomed eight new great-grandchildren in the last three years. Blessing upon blessing.

As I watch them crawling, toddling or learning to ride a bike I’m reminded of Jesus. He called a little child to him and then taught, ‘Unless you become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of heaven.’ (Mark 10:15)

Come to Jesus

We’ve all seen pictures of a saintly little one sitting on Jesus’ knee, gazing up at him. But is that picture consistent with the little children you know? What if he wasn’t sitting still but trying to jump on Jesus’ shoulders, or dig something out of Jesus’ pocket. Or perhaps she was asking a question like ‘why are your hands so big?’ Or ‘where is your mummy?’ Or maybe she was putting her hands on each side of his face and turning his eyes to her face, commanding his full attention.

The fact that he called the child to come tells me the child was walking and willing, so therefore the result was unpredictable. Did the child hide behind mummy for a while and sidle over slowly? Or did he rush over and jump on Jesus.

Think about it. A child gets to sit on Jesus’ knee! Sees him up close and personal. Settles under his arm, feeling the very presence of God. Does that make us jealous? Or are we like the disciples, who were busy protecting Jesus from the messiness that comes with little children. They’d tried to keep him separate and uncontaminated, honoured like the important rabbi he was. Who knew where those fingers, that were now holding Jesus’ hair, had been before? Was his or her bottom clean or would it leave a wet mark on Jesus’ robe?

Kingdom Shut

Pause a minute with me to ponder. Unless we become as a little child, we can’t enter the Kingdom of heaven. The door is shut! We’ve seen the old-fashioned pictures and we’ve been taught all the right words describing a little child… gentle, innocent, trusting…

But in my experience, that’s the part of a child’s character we see when the child is sleeping. The child in this illustration is wide awake. I think of my two-year-olds. How would they respond to Jesus’ call? One would pretend to hide, all the time wanting to be found. The other would come, probably with something in his hand to talk about…and talk about… and talk! Yet another would run and jump. I guess there are as many responses as there are children. And no response is wrong.

Come as they are

The common thread… They come as they are. No rushing home to get cleaned up. No hiding their dirty hands. No preening and preparing. They come to Jesus bringing themselves and their wants and interests. They play ‘pretend’ but there is no false pretence. They may be shy, but they don’t consider themselves not good enough. Would they tell Jesus they’re hungry, as mine do while they are opening the freezer door, digging for ice-blocks?

As soon as they felt the Spirit of Jesus, would they wriggle into a place close to his side? Maybe they’d curl up in contentment, or they’d do cartwheels in excitement. I think of my little one who always wants to show me that he can nearly do a handstand. Would Jesus be bored or delighted?

We come as a little child to enter the Kingdom of heaven. What happens then? Once we are in the Kingdom do we have to grow up and become serious adults? Or is the kingdom meant to be a place of fun, of questions and cartwheels? Is it populated with serious theologians, or with laughing explorers?

Childish or Childlike

Paul exhorts his readers to mature, to transition to eating solid food, to stop squabbling like children. He also says to put away childish ways. There is no need be childish… but to be child-like is different. (1Cor 13:11, Heb 5:11-14, I Cor 3:1-3)

Jesus also said the Kingdom suffers violence and the violent take it by force. (Matt 11:12) Have you ever seen a child at a lolly hunt, or a piñata? They push to get their share. Why? Because they want it, they are uninhibited.

Thinking about these little children pushing into heaven makes me want to be like them. To drop all my socially accepted false behaviour, to be part of the fun, to laugh and dance. To grab the Kingdom with both hands.

Who was Jesus with those children?

Were his arms too full to welcome any more? Did he produce a hanky to wipe a runny nose, or a ribbon to tie up the little girl’s hair?

Did he run out of time and tell them to leave or lovingly direct them back to their mothers? Then waving to them, I imagine he walked through the crowd with his disciples trying to catch up, wiping a dirty mark off his sleeve, while wondering how they, or anyone could access the kingdom. And again they pondered, ‘Who is this man?’

As I immerse myself in this story, I find myself throwing off my belt of ‘proper’ restraints, my scarf of intolerance, my turban of superiority. I’m hungry to become like the Jesus of that picture, arms open, eyes welcoming, twinkling.  Also, I want to be the little child who simply climbs up on his knee. And the great thing is, I can be both!

What about you?

What does this picture look like in your imagination?