AS A LITTLE CHILD

Scripture:  Mark 10:15  "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein."

My grandson, who was three years old at the time, sat at home and enjoyed life while his mother went out and shopped for groceries.  She had done all of the work.  She made the grocery list, clipped the coupons, and then went to store and selected the food.  She purchased the food with money that she had helped earn, carried the bags to the car, and then carried the bags from the car into the house.  She did all of this in the summer heat.  There was no effort whatsoever on the part of my grandson while he waited in comfort for his mother to return.  Yet, she said that when she put the bags of food on the table, he began to go through them and asked, "What did we buy at the store for me?"

A simple faith for provisions and self worth had been instilled in my grandson's heart by his loving father and mother.  He knew that his parents had always provided for every need so he had no shyness about receiving from their gracious hands.  He recognized that what belonged to his parents also belonged to him so he declared his ownership in the blessings of the house.  The bounty of the provisions belonged to him even though he was free from all labor and responsibility.

Jesus said that in order for us to receive the kingdom of God, we must come to Christ with the same childlike faith.  God is always so faithful and He brings blessings to our table every day.  In Psalms 103:1-10, David lists some of those benefits and instructs us not to forget about them.  They are ours for the taking.  He says that God forgives all of our iniquities and heals all of our diseases.  He redeems our life from destruction and crowns us with loving-kindness.  His provisions are never stale, for He brings us tender mercies that are new every morning.  God satisfies our mouth with good things so that our youth is renewed as the eagles.  He executes righteousness and judgment for all who are oppressed.  He is slow to anger and does not punish us for our iniquities in the fashion that we deserve.

These are just of few of our Heavenly Father's provisions that are available to His children.  The good news is that the Lord has done all of the work and paid the full price.  Jesus sacrificed His life so that we could inherit the kingdom of God.  He lays the blessings out before us and assures us that what belongs to Him also belongs to us.  We must listen to His Words and understand that He delights in blessing us but that His blessings will only come to us as we humbly receive them with faith as a little child. +++