You must become like children…

There are many words of Jesus to which I find myself returning time and again, finding in them yet another dimension οr shade of meaning. Today I would like to share with you a little “God moment” I had last week related to a certain passage of Scripture.

Recently, I had a few days vacation in Las Vegas. A friend of mine from England was visiting Arizona and we agreed to meet in Las Vegas since it’s sort-of-but-not-really half way between Phoenix and San Diego. This was my first time visiting Las Vegas. Hopefully I’ll write about my impressions of that city sometime soon but, for now, I would just like to share something that happened on the last day.

Now, I’m pretty sure Hell will be hotter than Nevada, although I don’t exactly see how that’s possible! Man, it was baking! Since the weather was like an oven, we decided to take it easy on our final day and just hang out at the hotel’s pool for a little while…

While I was sunbathing I saw a father and his little girl playing in the pool. The child would climb out of the pool and, with a huge grin and cheeky laugh, she would jump into the pool, into the parent’s waiting arms.

This game was repeated over and over again and, as I watched, Jesus’ words from Matthew’s Gospel came to mind where he said “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” – Matthew 18:3.

I’ve heard this passage discussed in Bible study groups before and I’ve heard people argue over exactly what Jesus meant. However, I think the image next to this text is now my new favourite image to explain it. A child leaping towards a parent is a beautiful picture of what Jesus is asking of us.

The child has complete and unwavering trust. The child knows that he is loved and will therefore be caught. There will be a few moments of precarious vulnerability, but an embrace in loving arms will swiftly follow. He knows that he is safe. He has complete faith in his parent’s goodness and love.

Even if our biological parents let us down, we have the perfect Father in Heaven who is there with open arms.

You’re in good hands…so what are you waiting for? Jump!