Sunday 1 Jul 2012

Sunday Reading: Matthew 18:1-5

Key Verse: Matthew 18:3
3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Devotion:
Have you ever had someone say something like “Grow Up!” to you? I am pretty sure that everyone who reads this will have had some sort of saying like this thrown at them at some time or another; but have you ever thought about what people mean by that and then why Jesus would tell us that we need to be more like children…

Well the obvious answer to the first part is that we have been behaving in a manner that is not what would be expected of us or from us and that the person throwing the remark thinks we should be a bit more mature about our reaction. Well, just sometimes, being mature about some things is not always the best way forward. If we take a step back and think about the life that we had, or we have if you are lucky, as a child, then we will see that the life of a child a somewhat carefree when compared to the life as an adult. As a child we may not have had to have the same responsibilities as we do as an adult.

So when we begin to think on those lines then we realise that we are not as bogged down in so many things as a child as we seem to be as an adult. So if you are still growing up, then relax and take it easy – don’t be in such a rush to grow up because it may not be what you expect it to be! The more things that we get thrown at us the more we reject things and the more we think of ways to not have to face those circumstances again. So we build up these barriers to protect ourselves but in doing so we find out that a few other things also get blocked by those same barriers.

What am I on about? Well, if we try to block circumstance out of our life so that we don’t have to face up to certain personal problems, we build up barriers so that we don’t have to face anything in that area. We are, therefore, blocking a big chunk of life out and not just the problem we thought about. The more we do things like that the more we block out and the more stubborn we become in our ways as well. The more stubborn we are the less likely we are to allow things in our lives; and unfortunately that includes listening to the truth from God’s Word. We block things out to such an extent that we find we can no longer find comfort in the things we did as a child. Jesus wants us to be more like children so that we can accept the love and comfort He offers instead of being ‘big’ about it and dismissing so many things in our lives.

Points to Ponder:
Do you block uncomfortable things from your life?

Are you blocking God without realising?