Jesus was clear.
“You must become like a little child.”
There’s something about children.
They “get it” in ways that evade us.
The best friends of Jesus were enamored with his words about the kingdom of heaven.
What was it like?
What would life be like for each of them in it?
The writer of Matthew tells it this way . . .
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 Then he called a little child over to sit among the disciples, 3 and said, “I assure you that if you don’t turn your lives around and become like this little child, you will definitely not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Those who humble themselves like this little child will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
This week in the meditations we are going to talk about the Kingdom of Heaven/God and what it potentially could mean.
Starting out, let’s note that in order to “get it” – Jesus says we have to be like children.
(Brief note – “Kingdom of heaven” is NOT about what happens when we die. It is so, so, so much more than that. And Jesus says, the “Kingdom of Heaven” is upon us . . . .so it is “here and now” and also, “yet to be.”)
This past weekend Tom and I had the privilege of keeping his first grandchild.
She’s almost 18 months and absolutely adorable. I wouldn’t say it started out “beautifully” because there was a little “dog drama.”
Dogs making loud, obnoxious dog noises, and it totally disrupted Millie’s breakfast. Millie was stressed, Tom/I were stressed, the dogs were stressed. The only people NOT stressed were Millie’s parents. (Thank goodness!)
The day progressed, and naptime occurred. It’s been a LONG TIME (about 25 years) since this was my daily routine. So, there was a little anxiety about how this would all go down.
But, I was struck by how Millie woke up from her nap.
The stress of the dog drama was forgotten. She woke up content.
The rest of the day was beautiful!
Then it was time for a new day . . .
I assumed that we’d know to get her by her cries when she woke up in the mornings.
That was not the case. Both Saturday and Sunday, she woke up laughing.
Literally.
Laughing.
Filled with joy.
All that I could think of as we changed her clothes, etc., and prepared her for the day was, “I wonder if this is part of what Jesus meant when he said, ‘become like a little child.’”
Find joy.
In all things.
It was obvious Millie missed her parents b/c when we’d Facetime she’d smile, laugh, and try to grab them through the phone screen. It was also obvious if something wasn’t “right” in her world. She’d let you know.
But overall . . . . she goes through life happy.
Laughing. Smiling. Embracing things as they come. Living in each and every moment. In real-time.
Do we do that? Or do we sit in the past or worry about the future?
What would it take for you to wake up laughing tomorrow?
Ruminate on that this evening.
Until tomorrow . . .
Grace and Peace,
Andrea