The Kingdom of Heaven is Like a Child by Mrs. Debbie Eshelman
As I was sitting at a picnic table at summer
camp, two third grade girls chased butterflies and squealed with joy when they saw a chipmunk. Which meant that they squealed a lot because there were a lot of chipmunks at camp! They raced back and forth across the field in wonder and awe of God’s creation. At one point one of the girls came to where I was sitting and implored me to come with her; “You just have to see this butterfly!” Yet, just a few days before, I’d sat at the same picnic table at a summer camp for fifth and sixth graders. Not once did I see one of them chasing butterflies or giving any acknowledgment to the ever-present chipmunks, and truthfully, I hadn’t noticed them either in all the rush of camp. What was different between these two views that were only separated by a few days and a few grade levels? Where had that wide-eyed wonder of a child seemingly gone? I think I was dealing with blinders: “something that prevents someone from gaining a full understanding of a situation.” The work at hand prevented me from seeing the fullness of what God wanted me to see, or at least that’s my excuse. I haven’t been the first person that dealt with blinders in the midst of the work at hand, in a setting that included children. There was that time in Matthew 18:2-4: “Jesus called a little one to his side and said to them, ‘Learn this well: Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become teachable, and learn about heaven’s kingdom realm with the wide-eyed wonder of a child, you will never be able to enter in. Whoever continually humbles himself to become like this gentle child is the greatest one in heaven’s kingdom realm’” (Passion Translation).
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The Connection
SPRING 2020
Matthew 18:2 – Or “toddler.” The Greek word is paidion, either a boy or a girl. Matthew 18:4 – This means “to see yourself as unimportant in your own eyes.” Jesus is firm with the disciples who had previously been discussing who was the greatest in the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:1). Jesus helps them remove their blinders to see the child in front of them. Jesus calling the child to Him would have been so very different in a culture that saw children as “less than.” Jesus points the child out to them; He wants them to see what’s in front of them; He wants their attention because what He is about to say is the answer to their question about greatness in the kingdom of God. Jesus is clear with His disciples, and us as His followers, that transformation – true change – will be required in our way of thinking. That being teachable, humble, and learning with wide-eyed wonder will be needed to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, which is the essence of childlike faith. Childlike Faith versus Childish Faith The phrase childlike faith is so different from childish faith. It’s not unusual for a parent to ask me, is my child’s faith real, they’re so young? My response is an emphatic yes! When children believe in God, they aren’t believing in a little God, one their size, they’re believing in the same sized God that adults believe in. Children have a unique way, a God-designed way, of pointing out God. Their childlike faith is comprised of trust, utter dependence, wonder and awe. Trust begins developing in infancy. When a child cries out and their parent responds, trust
