Following as Children

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.

Invite the Spirit into your life and you invite Heavenly Fathers influence as well. It will begin to have the same influence over you that an earthly parent’s influence has over their children.