Friday, May 20, 2011
Childlike? I maintain that there is just nothing quite like driving a busload of 1st graders to the zoo. This time of year that is a popular destination for field trips at school, so we spend a lot of time driving there. Yesterday I drove a group from one of our elementary schools here in Cabot, and it made me smile more and more the closer to Little Rock we got. Let me explain.
Everything was a big deal! When we crossed the Arkansas River the excitement in the air was thick. Not only were they enthused because we were driving over the river, but they could see the River Market District, which has an amphitheater area just on the bank of the river. One little boy shouted out, “Is that a beach?!?”
The “sky scrapers” were a hit, as well. Granted, Little Rock doesn’t have any true sky scrapers, but the buildings there are much taller than the ones in Cabot. So a building of 25 floors or so was massive to them. And then we passed the State Capital Complex, and you would have thought we had taken them to Washington DC. “That’s where the Governor works everybody!” They were taking it all in, that’s for sure.
And then we took our exit and they realized we were at the zoo. It was as if an “energy bomb” had been detonated on that bus. To give you an idea of how excited they were, just imagine the average person’s reaction if they were told they had just been given $100 million. I’m not exaggerating, either.
Why were they so excited? You see, they are children, and the things that we take for granted as adults are still new and exciting to them. We cross the Arkansas River so much that we don’t even give it a second thought. The tall buildings of Little Rock are nothing to us compared to the buildings of New York City or Chicago. The State Capital Complex is familiar to us. And the zoo, to most adults, is just a smelly animal shelter.
Maybe that’s why Jesus said that we had to come to Him “as a child.” He spoke much of “childlike faith.” The longer we live, the more routine life becomes. When we see someone sick, many times we just pray for comfort for them when a child will pray for them to be healed, and believe it can happen. When we see someone saved we rejoice, but a child wants to throw a party because that person is going to heaven now. When we hear that someone loves us we are often skeptical, but a child accepts that because they have a natural desire to love and be loved.
Get it? When we come to Jesus, we have to come like them. We have to let ourselves be wide-eyed and enthusiastic about the things of God. We have to take in the little things, and take joy in them. Life is more fun as a child, and our life with Christ can be so much more enjoyable if we live it through the eyes of children.
That’s just a thought, and I welcome yours.
Until next time,
blake
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