Suffer the Little Children to Come to Me

Children are so innocent and trusting. Nothing much gets in the way of their faith, does it? They totally trust someone to take care of them and provide for their every need. When God says to come to Him like "little children," this is exactly what He means. We must come to Him with unwavering faith, trusting in Him to provide for all our needs.

One of the ways we should be like "little children," is in the study of His word. If we were to read the Bible simply, as a child would, we would gain so much more in our understanding. Think of how a child perceives something that is told to him. If he is told, "Grandma is coming to see you on Thursday and will be bringing you a basket of treats," his simple little mind would right away grasp the important words: "Grandma, Thursday, and treats." He totally gets the message that Grandma's coming on Thursday, bringing treats!

This might sound silly, but let's do an in-depth study of that sentence the same way we like to do with God's word. We'll start with the word "grandma." Since the definition of "grandma" in the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary is "grandmother," maybe we should pull it apart and look up the words "grand" and "mother" to have a deeper understanding. The word "grand" means "having more importance than others" and "mother" means "a female parent." Other words in the sentence mean as follows: "coming" means "the act of arriving," "bringing" means "leading, carrying, or causing to come along," "basket" means "receptacle," and "treats" means "an especially unexpected source of joy." Now we can truly understand the in-depth meaning of this sentence: "Someone more important than the female parent, in the act of arriving, will be carrying a receptacle of an especially unexpected source of joy!"

As silly as this may sound, this is exactly what we do when we tear apart words and search for more in-depth meanings in the Bible. We just don't seem to realize in doing so we often lose the whole meaning of the message. What is it that makes us seem to have this need to delve into whatever's hidden behind the surface of what we're reading? Is it so we can feel it was on our own effort that we've acquired such deep understanding and knowledge? We need to let go of that conceit and learn to approach God's word as a child would, very simply. If there are any deeper meanings God wants us to know, He will reveal them to us through the Holy Spirit as He has promised. We need to have faith.

It's very important for us to let go of our magnified images of ourselves and our own preconceived notions about God and His word, and become like little children again. Instead of thinking we can do everything ourselves and thinking we have all the answers, we need to allow Him to speak to our hearts and teach us what He wants us to know in His own time and in His own way. Whatever worries or concerns we have, we need to stop trying so hard to fix everything ourselves and reach out to Him to lead us. If we would just stop trying so hard to be so knowledgeable and wise in our own conceit, and learn to lean on Him for understanding of all things, then maybe we could finally have the unwavering faith of a little child.

"Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for such is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 19:14