Living With A Childlike Zeal Brings Us Closer To The Kingdom

We are always placing timelines on ourselves. Some of these stages in our lives are based on science. By the age of 12 months, we should be performing certain tasks. By the age of five years, we should be performing certain tasks, etc. 

There are other timelines that are less scientific. For example, at 18 we are considered legal adults. This means we are supposed to begin acting a certain way. We are no longer supposed to behave as children so we push away some of those previous attributes that are associated with childhood and move on with our lives.

In some respects, this is counter-productive to our spirituality. Yes, when we grow up we are expected to match our socks (most of the time) and stop slurping our soup, especially when in public. But where did we get the idea that we had to stop enjoying the little things in life that are signs of God’s presence all around us? Where did we get the idea that we had to stop trusting in people or reaching out to others in need?

Let’s face it. We as adults may dress better, and it is certain that we continue to increase in intelligence, but deep inside we still have the same longings, ambitions and dreams that we had as children.

Have you ever wondered why many long for the “good ol’ days”? Well, it is because those were the days when we saw through the eyes, hearts and souls of a child. There was excitement and curiosity about this world. There was a sense that we could and would make a difference. Yet, somehow all of that gets bogged down or beaten down, as the case may be, by the responsibilities of our adult lives.

Jesus calls us to shift our adult thinking back to our childhood. After all, did he not say that we should be like the little children to enter the kingdom? Did he not take the time to bring the children to him in the midst of the crowds he was teaching?

If we are truly children of God, then we need to start acting like children. We need to regain our excitement and curiosity about the exquisiteness of this earth that God has created for us. We need to worry less about our socks and more about creating our plans to burst upon this earth with holy zeal!

We should allow ourselves to take long walks in the evening breeze or sit by a lake and watch the sun dance upon the ripples in the water. We should look at the finches eating seeds in the early spring and marvel at the rose-colored clouds in late afternoon just before the sun bids us good night and dips behind the horizon.

We should pray for and reach out to people we have never even met and give thanks to Almighty God when the buds begin to form on the trees.

Take in the breath of God, my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, and exhale the stale intellectual reason of the day. If human beings were half as grand as we thought we were, we would truly be like the angels, and yet we are not.

Even in this, though, there is great rejoicing for God created us apart from the angels to be His sons and daughters. Who of us could ask for a better parent than this? Who of us would not reach out to our brothers and sisters in need that we might all one day return to our Father and finally take rest and refuge in His loving embrace?