Come "As" A Little Child

Originally posted by Brenda on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:03:00 GMT on Pawn to King, and is filed under True Stories

My hubby’s family resides in England, except for his parents who live next door to us, and my sister-in-laws and their families, who both live quite a piece away. So, when family gets together it is always a big deal.

His cousin Clive, and his family, blessed us with their presence this past May, and we were able to go on vacation with them for a week or so to a charming cottage in the Muskokas. Pure cottage country, it is a delightful blend of rustic cabins and millionaires’ hideaways. Picturesque and serene, it is a vacationer’s paradise – a place where you can get away from it all and just be yourself.

Of course, when you are on vacation, you will always do some of those things that you wouldn’t normally do every day....

Out on an exploratory tour of the area, we happened upon a quiet little park, just on the outskirts of a tiny village. Walking out onto the dock, some dipped their fingers in the still waters to see if it was warm, others dipped toes, and still others wandered off to the side to check out the foliage of the Canadian landscape. It was a calm, serene, spot and we almost dared not to disrupt it with our chatter. And that was when I spotted it...

There in its’ shining, silver, glory was a gigantic swing set. There is something about recapturing those sweet childhood moments... Swinging, back and forth, and jumping off to see how far you could land... Hair blowing in the breeze behind you... Could take your brother out doing it (lol)?

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” ( 1 Corinthians 13:1)

It was the first scripture that popped into my head... and although it was not originally intended in this content, it sure summed things up.

Everyone else suddenly spotted them, too – the swing, the slide, and the monkey bars. Who could resist? We adults joined the kids, and became childlike once again. (Granted, I don’t remember the seats on the swing being quite that narrow when I was younger!)

Pumping your legs back-and-forth, and building height in your swing.... isn’t our daily walk with Christ like that? We hop on the seat of our new position of life in Christ, and soar. Up and down, we follow the path of our journey with him, with all its’ highs and lows. Eventually, somewhere in the middle we have to stop and be still, only to see we are still seated with Him, and that we are in a calm and quiet place...

Suddenly, we were all laughing, giggling, and having fun being kids again. How He loves it, when we become as little children. His Word even says so.

“Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

You will find these words in two places within the New Testament, where Jesus is blessing the little children. (Mark 10:15, and Luke 18:17 NKJV) Of course, we know when anything is reemphasized in the scriptures, it is of great importance.

It says “...as a little child”. That little word “as” caught my attention. Turns out the word is Greek, and originally is written as “hos”, (pronounced hoce). Used here as an adverb, (or a verb helper), when translated it means “as it were, like, be like, as if, even, even so” and another long list of similar definitions.

It turns out that it is a small word, with a big meaning!

We can be naive, goofy, serious, and real “as” children. We can sit at the feet of our Father and hang on His every word, and recognize that He is our ‘hero’. He is our protector, shield, and defender of faith. He is all the things we would want Him to be, and more.

Don’t you just love those simple, uncomplicated moments when we can feel like a kid again?

We need to be know that we are His children, and He wants us to come “as” (like, as if, even as) His “kids” with childlike faith, love, trust and hope at all times. And, we also need to know, that like all good “daddies” and fathers, He will lovingly stand behind us and push us on this “swing” that we call “life”. We just need learn how to be seated on it...

... “as” a little child.