Thursday, March 24, 2005

Become Like Little Children

Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Some people liken this to being born again, and though I might agree with this, I have a different take on it.

When a child is born it is like an empty canvas waiting for a picture to be painted on it. A child is a blank slate; it has no beliefs or prejudice. The world is a vast place to be discovered and experienced.

As a child grows its parents and society program it, teaching it beliefs and giving the child its view of the world.

To me, to become like little children means to return to the state of a blank slate. We need to let go of all the beliefs and sacred cows that we hold dear. Then as an adult we can use the gifts God gave us to study our reality and develop beliefs and understandings that are our own, not something that was given to us by our parents and society. The key is to see the world objectively and accept the reality that surrounds us.

Dropping one’s beliefs and sacred cows is not an easy task, and can be very frightening as it appears to remove the underpinnings of one’s life. But this I believe is what Jesus was referring to when he said in John 3:3, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

It has nothing to do with letting some entity come into your life; it has to do with building an understanding based on reality. This is what will show a man the kingdom of heaven.

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