As a Child

[Jesus speaking] said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 18:3 ESV

I have a tall, thin, blue wine-shaped bottle that I use to collect coins (mostly pennies). My youngest granddaughter has always been enamored with that bottle. When she was about three, it used to be one of her favorite things. We'd pour out all the pennies and Abby would put them back in, one by one, and then want to do it again; but we haven't done it in a long time. Recently, she asked for the bottle and we poured out all the pennies and she began coming up with unusual ways to pick them up to put them back in (including picking them up with her toes and actually getting them in the bottle!). She was enthralled with the whole idea. 

As a child, she saw all those pennies and exclaimed, "We are rich!" We played with them for about an hour-and-a-half. All the while, she kept saying, "We're rich!" "Isn't this fun, Granna?" "Let's do it again!" As an adult, at first I laughed at her idea of rich, but then I remembered this verse, and I saw it through a whole, new light of understanding and realized we ARE abundantly rich. We have love and we have each other, joy in the moment, everything we need. We weren't concerned about jobs or bills or anything!

As a child, Abby was perfectly content with what was in front of her. When we, as adults, can acknowledge God in our daily lives and be perfectly content with what is in front of us, perhaps we'll grasp the Truth of what it means to come as a child. 

Prayer:

Father,

        Your Word tells us in Hebrews to be content with what we have, because You have said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  We trust You, O God! There is no greater sense of contentment than being in Your presence. Thank You for the reminder of what it means to come as a child. Please keep us ever mindful, for we want to enter the kingdom of Heaven. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen