I WANT TO BE THIS LITTLE GIRL, AGAIN

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” Matthew 18:1-35

    I find it very interesting that Jesus magnifies children as the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. You would think He would say preachers, prophets, or people who dedicated their lives to serving Him. But no, children.

    If you really think about it, children are precious, but can often be viewed as helpless, annoying, needy, exhausting, etc. Children are not always looked at in the highest regard.

For some reason, as a child, I always felt like the adults were the lucky ones. They got to stay up late, leave the house at their leisure, buy anything they wanted, and live freely without rules or punishment. Feeling like a kid sucked sometimes because we were limited.

    LET’S BE REAL. A lot of us were very excited to become adults because of the freedom associated with it, and that is fine. We would have the power to create the life we wanted without others enforcing their agendas on us, though that still happens sometimes, we ultimately would have the power. As an adult now, I’M LOVING IT, because of the independence!

    However, there are some child-like traits that I want to have again that got lost in the midst of growing up in this world.

    I remember in third grade, I decided to draw my whole class these random pictures, and put them in these white envelopes with their names on it. I do not know what compelled me to do this, but I did it. Looking back, I find that to be totally BOLD. These pictures were not Picasso material, and yet I still had enough confidence to give them out, despite what my classmates would have thought. My classmates were very intrigued and were all talking about what kind of pictures they got. It did put me in a vulnerable position, because I did not know how the pictures would have been received, but the bottom line is, I DID IT. Now, if I were to do that today, there probably would be more hesitancy and doubt, because of the over-thinking that comes with being an adult.

    In fourth grade, I ran for class president! FOURTH GRADE! I remember making my posters and saying my speech in front of the whole school in the auditorium. TALK BOUT BOLD. Even though I did not win, the fact that I still put myself out there just showcases the inner-courage that was already inside of me.

    I felt like as a kid, everything just seemed more exciting, even the small things. Life was approached as a mystery and wonder. As we age, the spark gets lost, and it is up to us to find it again. I truly miss not caring what others thought and just doing what I said I was going to do, without overthinking, doubting, or worrying. I miss where my imagination used to go. I miss being unapologetically me. I had no reputation to cling to or money to worry about. I legit had nothing to show for. I was just being me.

    I think this is what Jesus was implying. When you are a child, you believe everything, without getting so deep in thought. You do whatever you have to do, without fear of judgment because you are not all up in your head.

    Being like a child would entail us fully depending on God, as we would our parents, and not in anything we have. As adults, we sometimes allow our career, social status, accomplishments, income, relationships, good deeds, etc to define, sustain, or qualify us, when in reality, God could care less about that. GOD OWNS THE WORLD, you think He cares about those superficial qualities? Being like a child would mean letting go of your roles, titles, status, possessions, or any earthly label in exchange for God’s word, purpose, and process. It means TRUSTING in God, no matter what. It means taking YOU out of the equation. Jesus regards this behavior as the highest in the Kingdom of heaven.

    Jesus himself, the king of kings, was of NO REPUTATION. That should blow your mind. His life was dedicated to serving others and God, even though He had the power to do ANYTHING. He could have lived any life he wanted, but chose to be a SERVANT. He could care less about people’s opinions because He knew his purpose, which was to honor God, even if it made him look lame, silly, or unpopular. God’s kingdom was regarded higher than the things of the Earth. In other words, if you think Earth is the best you’ve seen, then you are living a lie, because Heaven is 10X better. Streets of GOLD????? Yeah, okay.

    Bottom line, I think we should strive to let go of any earthly obsessions and just get over ourselves. Yes, love yourself, and build the best life you can, but at the end of the day, we’re nothing without God. As humans, we sometimes act very prideful, as if we are invincible or the best thing to ever walk the Earth, based on materially or superficial qualities, but we’re not. When we die, our bodies will become dirt, and it is only our spirits that will live on. Feed the spirit and magnify your spiritual identity, because you are a spirit. Make a bigger deal about what is unseen, rather than what is seen. Real riches are in Heaven! Surrender your bodies to God because He can do so much more with it than we can. Let go of any selfish ambitions and desires that do not benefit anyone but yourself.

    I am not saying that you should not invest in yourself, take care of yourself, or enjoy your life. I’m not saying you can’t have nice possessions, or have a luxurious life. God has an abundant, enriching life for us all (AND I WANT GOD’S VERY BEST, HONEY). I just think we sometimes make a bigger deal out of superficial, temporary earthly fantasies that do nothing for us in the long haul. Just make sure that the things of the Earth DO NOT DEFINE OR HAVE YOU! The true path of life is one of surrender and service to God, even if it looks crazy to the world. God has MORE for us than what we think we want or what the world promotes, best believe that.

    Trust me, I am still learning to apply these principles to my life and make changes. This message is definitely for me too. It is challenging because everything is always about what the flesh wants, and as a result, we neglect our spirits. It is truly a spiritual fight, EVERYDAY. But like a child, we must cling to God, and let go of ourselves. It will be a process, but a very worthwhile one.