BACK TO BASICS
BACK TO BASICS.
I enjoy listening to sermons and podcasts to keep my mind engaged and to learn from the Word of God, as I go about my day. The preachers and teachers I listen to are between the ages of 30 and 60, and a common thing I noticed is how they can easily recall an experience from secondary school like it happened yesterday. It is always nice to know everyone was once a youngster, and it also makes me realise how much secondary school has an impact on people’s lives. Most people I know spent 5 or 6 of their formative years in secondary school, and I even have family who have secondary school reunions till this day.
I am thankful for my secondary school, it was a Christian boarding school, and I have a great deal of pleasant memories. I fondly look back at those days and thank God for firm foundations. I often remember my child-like faith in God and my hunger and thirst for the things of the Kingdom of God, I crave that child-like faith more than a cold glass of water on a hot day. I am still amazed that between seven subjects a day, meals and prep, there was still enough time for morning and evening devotion, bible study, mid-day prayers and even personal devotion. As twenty children cannot play together for twenty years, I completed secondary school, and I was off to the “real world”. There was A ‘levels, then university came, and afterwards I started working and I became busier and busier.
I still catch myself longing for those days, wanting to go back to basics, simply believing and trusting in God, knowing that he is great and wanting an intimate relationship with my Heavenly Father. In Mark 10, when Jesus was teaching the crowd that gathered with him at Judea, He said in verse 15 that “anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:15 New International Version). Jesus made this statement in response to his disciples who rebuked people from bringing their children to meet Jesus.
Mark 10:13-15 (The Message Version)
“The disciples shooed them (the children) off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.”
Oh, the simplicity of a child! It is manifested in so many ways, from the faith of children in their parents to having pure hearts and intentions. From Jesus’ teaching, a feature of child-like faith, is simplicity, regardless of our biological age, we are still children before our Heavenly Father. In practice, simplicity in having child-like faith is accepting the Word of God with open hearts and minds; it is believing that God can meet all our needs.
Nevertheless, having child-like faith does not mean that we should remain spiritually immature or be literal children; the use of the word “child” is metaphoric. The bible says in 1 Peter 2:2 that, “like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.” The use of the word “like” is very significant here, it means “in the manner of ”, it is not telling us to remain as spiritual babies in faith. Therefore, even though I crave my child-like faith I am not oblivious to the spiritual growth I have experienced.
Another feature of child-like faith is humility. In Matthew 18 when Jesus’ own disciples questioned who was the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus replied saying:
“I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 18: 3 – 4 (New Living Translation)
A saying attributed to Rick Warren and C.S. Lewis is “humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less”. Humility is important because it shifts the focus away from us and our lives and looks onto something bigger. Practically, humility in having child-like faith is acknowledging that we are not “too big” for God and that we are all equal in God’s Kingdom. The bible says in James 4:6 (New Living Translation) “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” I urge us today to be humble, and God will give us graces as he said in His Word.
I want us to reflect on these questions: What are the basics of my faith? Am I going to church out of duty or am I hungry and thirsty for God? Do I want to know God more? Am I concerned with what I can do for God, for his Kingdom and his people, or am I only interested in what I can get from God?
I am not saying we should not have our desires, it comes with being human, but remember that you are blessed when you seek Gods Kingdom. The bible says in Matthew 5:6 (New International Version), “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.”
This means our work, school, relationships and every other thing fighting for our attention cannot fill us, it is only God who can. The kind of relationship God wants with us is one of intimacy, God wants to commune with us, like a father with his child. Let us come before God with child-like faith in simplicity and humility, leaving our wit, intellect and accolades behind. The beauty of having faith is that we do not have all the answers, for “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 King James Version).
Prayer:
Almighty God, give me the grace to understand the basics of my faith, to come before you like a little child with simplicity and in humility. God, may I hunger and thirst after righteousness, Amen!
Ifeoluwa Jaiyesimi ©
The Revolutionary Righter ©