Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
We can depend on the Father. Adulting is an important skill in contemporary society, one which we are led to believe is becoming more and more rare. But there is such a thing as adulting too hard. That happens when we try to control more than we can really control. It happens when we refuse to depend even on God himself. We forget how to be little children in his care. Do we become anxious at the thought of becoming little children? Do we begin to think of all of the things that are at risk of neglect and falling by the wayside if we don't carefully orchestrate everything in our lives? This is a sign that we have forgotten how to be children in the care of a generous and merciful God.
Let us learn to trust in the care God has for us. He has set guardian angels to watch over us. We don't have to be perfectly in control of every circumstance. As with regular children, we need to obey our parents to fully avail ourselves of their protection. If they tells us not to run out into the street and we do we put ourselves at risk. But as long as we obey it isn't a matter of perfection on our part. It isn't about getting everything right. We are children and God will take care of us.
"See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father."
In order to be children we can't keep God our the guardians he gives us at a distance. We must let God be as close to us as he desires to be.
I will return to Zion,
and I will dwell within Jerusalem;
Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city,
and the mountain of the LORD of hosts,
the holy mountain.
As children, we end up with a sort of Lord of the Flies scenario if we try to live apart from God. But when we remember to dwell in his presence there is nothing better. Things begin to work well. Almost as if by magic, blessings are unleashed. He will not allow anyone or anything to keep his children from him. He "is intensely jealous for Zion, stirred to jealous wrath for her." Even if we've isolated ourselves from him through our own fault he is ready to rescue us. His guardian angels never cease to watch over us.
Lo, I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun,
and from the land of the setting sun.
I will bring them back to dwell within Jerusalem.
They shall be my people, and I will be their God,
with faithfulness and justice.
No comments:
Post a Comment