Okay, I am not disputing that Jesus was talking about humility, naivety, pure heartedness, trust, etc., when He said “…unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt 18:2-4 NKJV
However, after spending just a short time with some children at “Sprinkler Day” there may be some traits that we (or maybe just I) could be overlooking.
For example, the ability to be amazed at the smallest of things like water squirting out of a small hole, or how funny it is when you get the shivers because of the breeze blowing over your wet body, or being enthralled (for like 20 mins.) with the feeling of the water going up your back and then down, up your back and then down. And then there is the ability to repeat the same task over and over and over again with the same or even increasing intensity of joy each time, ie… jumping over the sprinkler, running around to the starting side, easing up to the edge of the sprinkler, 1,2,3 jump… oh the sheer joy of success… then do it all over again and again.
I was also amazed at the ability of the children to slip around, bump into each other, fall down, giggle, be upset, and then in a matter of moments be back to enjoying the event at hand. And then there is the unmatched, unbridled energy and enthusiasm. You know the kind I am talking about where they go full out until the moment they stop, and then they almost just pass out.
At the end of the day I passed some of the children and they were still talking about how much fun they had… when can we do it again?!
As I sit here I am running through a list of thoughts in my mind about parallels that can be drawn in reference to living in the “kingdom of heaven.” Let me summarize:
- The Ability to be amazed.
- The Ability to repeat the same task repeatedly with joy.
- The Ability to move past the difficult to experience the fun.
- The Ability to live with energy and enthusiasm.
Seems like a pretty great world to me, and food for thought!
One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them, but the disciples told them not to bother him. Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you, anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God.” Luke 18:15-17 NLT
