CHILDLIKE. By Pastor Fernando.

Scripture:
Then Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it top the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!
Matthew 11:25-26

Observation:
Jesus reveals to us that The Father loves to reveal his most intimate secrets and strategies not to those who think themselves as wise and clever but to the childlike. It pleases the Father to exalt the humble and to humble the the proud. When we come with a childlike character before the Lord, we come as an empty container for God to fill it up with His rich wisdom and grace. But when we come to him thinking that we know a lot, then our container doesn’t have too much room for His wisdom and grace. A childlike character will keep us always dependent of Abba and in his power and wisdom. It will also help us to trust in God’s ways better than in our own ways.

Application:
My son Daniel is learning how to tie his shoelaces. He is getting there, but still has some trouble with it. Yesterday before going to school Karen asked him to tie his shoes, but he wasn’t able and was getting frustrated. I told him to keep trying! He couldn’t do it. So finally I went down and tied his shoes. He was so excited that I came to his help. Daniel teaches me how to be childlike before the Lord. First of all, he is not self-concsious about recognizing his weakness. He asked for help. Sometimes as we get older and more independent, we think that asking for help is a sign of weakness and we try to do things on our own, as if we were trying to prove how capable we are. Bt with God we don’t need to prove anything. We must simply need to humble ourselves and recognize that we need Him. We need to rejoice that we have a loving Father willing to come to our aid at any moment we cry out to Him.

We need to guard ourselves from loosing our childlike character. When God starts helping us, we will grow more confident in him, but also in the wisdom He has bestowed upon us. If we are not careful, we will forget where the wisdom comes from and we are going to think that we are so wise and clever. We cannot start right and finish wrong. We need to stay humble, dependent on God, and trusting that His ways are always better than mine. The wisdom that he revealed yesterday should prepare my heart for more of his wisdom for tomorrow.

Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, I want to remain childlike and dependent on you. Let me to put aside my shame and my tendency to try to impress others. let me recognize my failures and weaknesses before you. Let me please you with a childlike heart. Pour out to me your wisdom and your grace. As long as I stay childlike, I will remain secure in the shadow of your wings. Amen!