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“… unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

– Matthew 18:3

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“If you had the power to do anything you wanted, what would it be?” was the icebreaker question for children’s church last Sunday. I’m always interested to see how each child will respond to these type of questions. One might say, I’d make a million LOL Surprise Dolls and another that they’ll buy all of the candy in the world. Just to get the children to think a little deeper, I told them that I would lay hands on all terminally ill children and heal them completely. I was stunned when my 8-year old son confidently replied, “I’m already able to do that.” He said this with great authority. I stood corrected as he demonstrated what it truly means to become like little children as it relates to faith.

When I hear the phrase, “childlike faith”, I think of the deepest level of trust and assurance children naturally have in their parents. Every morning, my children wake up and ask for their favorite breakfast food. They know right away that I or my husband have already gone to the grocery store to stock the fridge and pantry with what they like. They also know that clean clothes are ready for them put on and a car will be warm for the ride to school. My children, without a shadow of doubt, have faith or confidence in me and my husband to provide for them simply because of who we are.

The bible defines faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). When we have faith for something it’s not because we see the tangible evidence of it, it’s because we have confidence in the power of the person who’s the ultimate provider, our heavenly Father. And what’s even more amazing is that we have that same power, the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Access to this power was made available to us when Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. All we have to do is accept the Spirit, believe in the Spirit and obey what the Spirit leads us to do. Obedience is how we reveal our faith in God. We essentially become like little children allowing Him to rule our lives and provide for us.

It has been freezing cold in this region I live in, with record breaking subzero temperatures. With this chilling weather, many people have decided that they will stay in the house. Others have made the decision to go to their jobs because ‘no work’ equals ‘no pay’. What’s obvious in this situation is that we will always do what we feel is absolutely necessary to survive in this life here on earth. My question is, will we continue to do what’s necessary to enter the kingdom of God, in heaven?

Will we still believe in Jesus when the world claims he doesn’t exist? Can we exercise our faith by being obedient to what God tells us to do even when the world might label it as crazy, too risky or unheard of? Can we trust God to provide for us when our circumstances show otherwise? Can we have faith that God will still heal people of all sicknesses and deliver people from deadly addictions?

In this day in age, we need child like faith more than anything. I find it interesting that many people feel the world is soon to end, however, many are choosing to follow the ways of the world that are contrary to the Word of God. Let’s choose to diligently pursue our divine calling and what God has for us in the kingdom over our personal desires of riches and fame. Let’s stop believing the opinions of people because it makes more sense to our carnal minds. We serve a God who has already proven himself capable of making the impossible possible. Start relying on our heavenly Father today because we cannot do anything without Him.

I truly hope that we can find the strength and courage to boldly live for Jesus with ‘child-like’ faith in the difficult times we are facing now and the more severe times ahead. It’s our level of faith in Jesus Christ that will determine our true victory in the end.