Exodus 4, 5:1-21; Matthew 18:1-20; Psalms 22:19-31; Proverbs 5:15-21

“And he said” ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthew 18:3-4 NIV)

My son just turned 17 months a few days ago, and I’ve been saying since he hit the 15 month mark that I absolutely adore this stage. Newborns are sweet and squishy, but once your child starts walking, running all around the house, feeding himself, and expressing himself in short words or phrases, it’s an absolute game changer. I love his little personality coming through and the excitement he has when he gets to experience things he’s learned that he loves. It’s brings me endless amounts of joy to be his mother, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of this toddler years look like (yes, even the “terrible twos”).

And while sure, no child is a perfect angel all of the time, when I think about the verses above, I wonder what characteristics he currently has that the Lord would want me to emulate, remembering that He is my heavenly Father. My son is deeply joyful and loves to play–he gets so excited just to run around the kitchen island, running to catch his Dad, or switching up the game and running away from him. My son is trusting–he knows mama and dada are looking out for him, keeping him safe, being there for him when he cries. He knows that we will provide for him–there are always snacks when he asks for them, food at every meal, a diaper change as soon as he needs it, warm baths and a snug blanket at night. My son is loving–he gets snuggles and cuddles every time he asks, kisses whenever he leans in, and I will absolutely pick him up and hold him whenever he comes running to me.

We’ve been exploring together what it means to be joyful, trusting, dependent, and loving, and these will be themes we continue to explore all year long. Just as I equate myself to a toddler in my faith walk with my Heavenly Father in some negative ways, I’m reminded that Jesus said we need to change to become like little children as a positive. When I compare my walk to that of a toddler, usually I imagine the tantrums, the saying no, the patient, but exasperated, parent trying to do what is best. But God sees the beauty of childhood–the deep trust and faith– and calls us to become like children for the highest reward.

Children learn at a very young age what to expect of the world around them: unfortunately, not all of us come from homes that taught us to be these things. We learned to become leery, unloving, controlling, or afraid. Even if it’s not to that extent, through our formative years, our experiences with others shape how we react to the world around us and the God. How often do we have a hard time imagining God to be loving when our own parent didn’t meet our need for love? Or how could we see Jesus as a friend when we’ve learned that friends become our biggest influence for wrong? It’s can be hard to accept the truth that the Lord is nothing like the worldly examples we experienced. We have to revert back to the attitude of young children, before we learned what would ultimately take us away from the goodness and perfect love of the Lord.

Today I’d encourage you to ask the Lord what it would mean in your life to “become like little children.” Would that mean letting go of hurt you had experienced to trust like a child? Would it mean embracing your playful nature in Him? Would it mean accepting instruction without questioning or need for understanding? The Lord will show you what this looks like in your life, we need only to step out in faith to ask it.