Have you ever noticed how often in the Scriptures we are admonished to be like children? Sometimes the words explicitly command us to be like children:

"At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

The command here is obvious - childlike humility. However, sometimes the directives are more implied:

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning."

This passage seems to imply an exhortation to childlike hope, eagerly anticipating the deliverance and coming of the Lord, just as a child would wait and hope for some great event or much-loved person in his own world. And yet other passages merely make some contrast which even more subtly implies that we ought to be as a child:

"In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will."

Here we have the child contrasted with the more mature person - or adult - who is seemingly wise and full of understanding. It would follow, however, that this wisdom and understanding is after the world's kind, rather than the spiritual kind, since the child is the one blessed with the spiritual revelations. So we are directed to have open ears and eyes toward the things of God just as a child would, without the presuppositions and prejudices that are so common among adults.

How else are we to be like children? Let me challenge you to think on this as you study the Scriptures, searching for more ways that true believers are compared to children or exhorted to be like them. And let me challenge you to examine your own life, and search out whether you are truly as a child before the Father, as you ought to be.


(Matthew 18:1-4; Psalm 130:5-6; Luke 10:21)

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