‘I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom.’
—Matthew 18:1–3, The Message
I admit it: I have babies on the brain. We just welcomed Jack, our newest grandchild (between my husband and me, that makes seven), and he’s a beautiful boy. But it’s not his beauty that draws me to him. It’s transcendence. I can’t see a halo, but I believe one hovers over his innocent little brow.
Yes, that’s right, innocent. That’s what Jesus was talking about when He said that if we want to get into the Kingdom, we have to go back to “square one” and be like children again.
That doesn’t mean we lose who we are in the process. If you’ve ever observed a newborn, you know that he (or she) has a personality from minute one, and it’s different from that of every other child who has ever lived.
So Jesus isn’t saying for us to give up who we are to come to Him. He’s just saying we have to go back to a time when we were completely fresh and open. After little Jack came home from the hospital, my husband, Lynell, was holding him, and I was sitting nearby. I said something, and Jack turned his head toward me. I sound a lot like his mother, Tami, and SHE really gets his attention. After all, it’s her voice he’s heard most, even before he was born.
Did we hear the voice of GOD before we were born? I believe we did. When children are small, they are said to have difficulty separating reality from fantasy. But what captures a child about fantasy, I think, is that they know, without question, that there is something beyond themselves. When we “grow up,” we leave those “childish” things behind.
But Jesus tells us we must return to them! If you think about it, wouldn’t you just love to slip back to that time when you were sure that all things were possible if you just believed? We need to “teach our children well,” it’s true, but we also need to learn from them.
Drink in all that it means to “start over” with the Lord. You just might get a glimpse of His Kingdom!
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