“Unless you turn and become like little children…”

Entering the fourth quarter of life I began to think about some of the conditional scriptures like “unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:3) and rather than find a book by a crusty old theologian I decided to consult the experts. My nephew’s son and daughter (8 and 5 years of age). 

The first thing I noticed was that they had no (memorable) past and no concept of the future:- no point arranging a meeting for ice cream at 3pm a week on Tuesday with these kids. They live in the moment whereas I spend much of my time looking back or in fast forward. 

Over breakfast the little girl was not too enthusiastic to eat; I pointed out that if she finished her breakfast it would help her grow taller (a desirable result) and so she finished it and then stood on her chair, and climbed onto the table to check my hypothesis as she towered a quarter inch above me, satisfied that she had indeed grown since our last meeting. 

Next the boy, with the natural desire to test his strength, invited me to practice boxing and MMA,  I was able to successfully block a volley of rights and lefts but the surprise haymaker at the end ‘rattled the bones of my ancestors’ and his face lit up with delight. We are our Father’s sons (The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name Exodus 15:3) I remembered a similar training session with his Dad 25 years before. 

Next the little girl, after finding her crayons, led me by the hand into the garden, which is her artist studio and I assisted in her latest creation; the result would make Picasso weep for his lack of imagination and she showed it around later to delight her audience. (May she never run out of colours!) 

Then despite a lack of gymnastic equipment, I proved useful again, this time my arm served as a horizontal bar which she could leap onto from the bunk bed and swing on. And before I had time to do the risk assessment she was already in mid-air. We continued until one of us was tired. 

A finale was straight after as I felt the paws of a growling lion cub grip my neck as he leaped onto my back to take down the old buffalo… not this time though! 

If we can become like children, it is to live in the moment, to have complete confidence and trust in God but also to grow, be tested and be ever creative. 

Of course there is a subsequent  question, if we become like little children, how does our Father respond? I think He is fully attentive, delighted at our need for Him, cooperative in answering prayers as a good father is to his earthly children’s requests. 

The angels bow to God’s Holiness and majesty, the kings of the earth fall before His power, the greatest sinners are in awe at His mercy and forgiveness. Perhaps those who become His children climb up onto his throne and playfully pluck an eternal whisker from his chin in the knowledge that there will be no repercussions.

“Where Faith Costs”

I have a photo of four Chinese Evangelists on my computer. They are all middle aged, ordinary looking chaps who have spent 47 years between them in prisons and labour camps held by the Chinese Communist government because they believe in Jesus. 

They are the product of a movement of the Holy Spirit in one of the nations most hostile to the Gospel message. And now, many in what is referred to as the House Churches (as they have no physical church buildings) have begun to send evangelists beyond China’s borders into the most untouched regions of the world still held captive in the grip of  Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. As they put it in an excerpt from the book ‘Back to Jerusalem’ :- 

“The Lord has been training Chinese Christians  for the past 50 years through imprisonment, torture, suffering and hardship. Thousands have been treated brutally in prison, thousands more have been sent out across the country as evangelists with nobody to rely on but God himself. They have seen numerous miracles and have come to a deep trust in Jesus that could not have been learned in any other way than through hardship and suffering….We have become soldiers of steel, tempered in the furnace of affliction. We do not fear what people can do to us.” 

If we contrast this with Churches in the free world we see a dismal picture; even in our own denomination we see  nit picking on religious practices like where your hands are during the Our Father,  where to receive communion ,  or whether we should revert back to the Latin Mass (or the silent minority who would like it in the original Aramaic) But how about the lost, does anybody care about them anymore ? 

How the western churches need a portion of this Spirit to revive their drooping fervour; but I wonder if any can pay the cost …perhaps Jesus will also supply the appropriate training to those with a heart for Him.