I don’t even know how many times the scriptures tell us to
be as little children. I do know that it’s a lot. For some reason this
scripture stood out to me in a way that the others had not. Though short, it prompted deeper thought.
Be ye followers of
God, as dear children. (Eph. 5:1)
We have all seen how excited children are around the
parents. When mom or dad comes home from work or even an hour trip to the
store, the kids run up to them and throw their arms around them. When mom is
trying to cook dinner, the kids run around underfoot, wanting nothing more to
play in her shadow or help her with her work. Kids follow their parents with an
enthusiasm that we as adults have lost. We see ourselves as independent beings,
separate from others. We can attach ourselves to others, but we remain “our own
person”. We don’t need to grow up to be like someone else because we already
grew up.
What if we followed God with the same childlike enthusiasm
that our children followed us with? What if we were constantly underfoot
wanting to help with his work? He is, after all, our Father. Shouldn’t we want
to do what he is doing?
So why don’t we? Unlike the imperfect parents that we all
are, He has never shooed us away in impatience. He has only ever reached out
with open arms to love us and to aid us in our mission to become like him. He
wants to teach us and he wants us to succeed. He gives us this knowledge
through the Spirit.
Earlier in Ephesians, Paul teaches that it is through the
Spirit that we learn of wisdom and revelation.
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the
hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe
according to the works of his power.” (Eph 1:17-19)
It is through the gift of the Spirit that we learn of His
Plan, our inheritance, and His power and the power of Faith. It is through the
Spirit that we are enlightened. It is through the Spirt that we come to know
who our Father is and that we grow to want to be like him.
Whatever the reasons that we each have for distancing ourselves
from Heavenly Father, the answer comes in inviting the Spirit into our lives.
Without the Spirit, we are as children locked in a room where we don’t ever
have contact with our parents. We know nothing of them. Our knowledge can’t
grow and all we ever do is focus on what is in the room with us. Our lives are
shallow in comparison with what they could be.
