Philippians 2:12-18
Our church recently released a podcast in which one of our minis-
ters interviews the children of our congregation about scripture
and faith. Not surprisingly, the adults in the congregation love it!
We love the simple innocence of their answers and we all get a good
laugh at one of our youngest explaining that his favorite Bible story
is “Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Bears!” The conversational
rendering of scripture is pretty entertaining as well: “God, can you
not do a flood?” Of course, we are also floored by the theological
insights of those eleven and under. One reminds us that the story of
Jonah, “proves that God is always there, and you can’t hide from your
mistakes.” Yet another describes Jesus as, “literally heaven on earth.
He is God. He is God on earth.”
As much as we love hearing each child speak, I suspect that most of us are even more moved by what we do not hear. We do not hear the weight of life experience, sarcasm, deep pain, doubt, or lack of energy. No one is jaded or frustrated or skeptical. There are no disclaimers or personal asides, only joy and belief. The challenge of our faith is to call ourselves back to pursuing this kind of life with God.
We live in a world racked by war, disease, mass shootings, leaders
who fall and fail. We feel that we have every right to be jaded. But
God calls Christians to respond to the world differently. God calls
us to pursue our Creator with wide-eyed wonder, with energy, with
childlike enthusiasm. The last thing our world needs is another
cynic.
Consider
What does childlike faith look like to you? In what way could you exhibit a childlike faith and trust today?
Pray
God, some days the world seems so heavy, and you seem so far away. Remind us what it feels like to set aside the troubles of the world to focus on you. Teach us to live our lives in the carefree pursuit of you. Amen.