Faith like a child

I've been around children my entire life and always appreciate the simple wisdom they can offer at times. I enjoy watching Bill Cosby interview little kids and reading books that showcase letters to God written by youngsters. My love of children has always given me an appreciation for the idea of having faith like a child.

Jesus encourages us to have faith like a child. In fact, he even goes as far to say that without it, we won't enter the kingdom of God. In Mark 10:15 Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." He also says in Matthew 18:3, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Certainly Jesus isn't telling us to act like children, but to have faith like a child.

I want to share a few things I've learned from my 2 1/2 year old son Isaiah about having faith like a child. I've spent over a decade committed to understanding the marvelous wonders of our Creator and Savior. Most of that time has postured me as a learner and my little guy has been teaching me about my faith, both directly and indirectly, since he was born. This is what faith like a child looks like:

Yes Jesus
We have a book called Jesus Loves Me. Actually, it's simply the song with the same title written in a book with colorful pictures. As a family, we sing the song, too. The chorus goes, "Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. For the Bible tells me so." After reading the book to Isaiah two or three times, he conveniently renamed Him "Yes Jesus." I would show him a picture of Jesus and ask him who it was and he would say, "that's Yes Jesus." I thought it was cute. I also thought it was extremely profound. Of course a little child would call him "Yes Jesus." What else could he say? If Jesus is our Lord, shouldn't we always approach him by saying yes? As in, whatever you say or ask, my answer is yes. It's always yes and it always will be. Isn't that really recognizing him as Lord? We can't say "no, Lord" because that would negate the Lord part, right? Every time we come before God, without hesitation, we should be saying yes. Yes to His will. Yes to His plan. Yes to His life. Yes Jesus.

Thank you, please
Liz and I have been discussing the importance of teaching our kids manners since we got married. We desire to raise up children who are respectful and thankful, so it would come as no surprise that we have stressed the words "please" and "thank you." In fact, many adults have mentioned how polite Isaiah is. They can't believe he minds his manners so well. He is good at remembering to say the words and I'm pretty sure he knows the meaning (he certainly knows the value), but sometimes he gets mixed up on when to use them. Sometimes he says "thank you" when he should be saying "please" and the other way around. The interesting thing is that I think he understands that thank you should actually come before please. As in, we should first recognize the gifts we have before we ask for anything else. Jesus tells us the way to pray is by first giving thanks. After giving thanks our minds and hearts are realigned so that our pleases make sense. Steven Furtick wrote, "If you thank God for everything before you ask him for anything, it makes you realize you deserve nothing." I'm not about to show Isaiah Barney's "Please and Thank You Song." Faith like a child understands it's thank you before please.

What is God?
We were in the car on the way to Target and Isaiah said, "Daddy, what is God?" The way he asked it actually resonated in my soul. He sounded so serious and he said "what" instead of "who." As a noun, the word what can be defined as the true nature or identity of something. Who is a pronoun and (of a person) asks of what character, origin, position, importance, etc. I found it to be a very specific distinction that I had never thought of myself. Who you say God is might be the most important question you'll ever have to answer (see Mark 8:29-30 or Matthew 16:15-16), but what is God might be an equally important question. What is God? I had to think about it before I answered. I replied by saying God is love (1 John 4:8). Wow, what an opportunity to set the record straight and set my son up for a life that reflects who and what God is all about. What? Love. Who? The Christ.

Confess and be forgiven
Yesterday was the first time I had to actually "discipline" Isaiah. He wound-up and smacked Micaiah in the face. It was pretty hard, too. I was right there when it happened and attempted to scold him, but he wound up and smacked me in the face, too. I didn't really know what to do. I'll add, my parents were also there to witness it. I picked up Isaiah and quickly took him to his bedroom. He was kicking and swinging the entire way. We laid on his bed and I calmed him down and told him he cannot hit Micaiah. Ever. We seemed to have a nice little understanding between us so we went back downstairs. When we entered the living room, my dad started to ask Isaiah a question and he boldly interrupted and said, "I have to say something to Micaiah." He walked to the kitchen and said, "Micaiah, I love you. I'm sorry." My response was simple: wow! He needed to apologize and he wasn't going to let anyone get in his way. I love the picture this painted for me. I've made mistakes and often times toiled and delayed my apology for whatever reason (inconvenient, uncomfortable, timing, etc.). Isaiah wasn't distracted. He needed to confess he was wrong and ask for forgiveness. This demonstration of faith like a child was extremely convicting and humbling. How many times do I blow it and waver in my confession and/or apology to God? A lot. If we confess, God will forgive. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).