Getting in.
Getting into heaven isn’t that complicated, you know? You accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, follow the Ten Commandments as best that you can, and go to church every Sunday, and you’re in, right?
If that’s the case, then why did Jesus advise us that there’s something else we must do to get in?
People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. "Let these children alone. Don't get between them and me. These children are the kingdom's pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Luke 18:15-17 The Message
Why do think that God wants us to accept His Kingdom in such a simplistic manner? Why should we view God’s Kingdom through the eyes, and with the mind of a child?
Let’s answer these questions with a few questions and answers.
Who does a child turn to for provision all of his necessities? Daddy
Who does a child look to for protection? Daddy
Who does a child look to for, well, for everything? Daddy
As we grow up, we learn to be, and in fact are encouraged to be, more independent. We’re prompted to think for ourselves, to take care of ourselves, to provide for ourselves, and to protect ourselves. It’s the natural progression of things, right?
Yes, but not when it comes to our relationship to God. In fact, what we’re called to do in our walk with Jesus is contrary to our walk in life!
Check this out: It’s when we view God through the eyes of a child, and when we surrender our lives to Him, and when we look to Him as being Daddy and in doing so look to Him for everything, that He becomes more than a God in a religion book, or in a building called a church, or in the hearts of other people. It’s when he becomes Daddy God; a God who is larger than life. A God who performs miracles. A God that provides, and sustains, and protects, and forgives, and loves his children. He becomes a God who is real, and He comes alive in our hearts.
Then following those Ten Commandments isn’t something that we have to do, but get to do. And we go to church, not because we have to, but because we want to. And we accept Jesus, not because we’re told to, but because he is in our hearts.
And the part about entering God’s Kingdom? You can count on getting in.
