The New Doctrine.4

"Let the little children

come to me,

and do not refuse them.

For the kingdom of God belongs

to hearts so trusting;

for without a childlike faith

you will never enter the kingdom."

-Jesus

Childlikeness: the essential character quality to living in a good place!

The difference between childlike and childish is not one of degree but of devotion. The childish are devoted to their own selfish ways and desires. The childlike are devoted to love.

The selfish child is miserable to be around. The childlike

melt your heart.

When my oldest granddaughter was age three I remember laying her down for a nap. She tenderly took my face in her two hands and asked, "Grandpa may I have some milk?" In that moment I would have given her anything!

A core value of faith as a follower of Jesus (a list compiled by George MacDonald) is to believe that He died to make us merry children of our Father in heaven,

• loving what is lovely,
• delivered from all:
• meanness,
• pretense,
• falseness,
• unfairness,
• cowardice,
• fear,
• anxiety,
• self-worship,
• trust or hope in material possessions.

Jesus used a variety of ways to express His Father's desire to be surrounded by people with transformed "supernatural" hearts: born again, childlike, perfect, obedient, fearless, following, listening, trusting, and loving.

Contrast that with the "natural" state of the soul demonstrated by today's "protester": childish, foot-stomping, screaming, insolent, arrogant, ignorant, undisciplined, disobedient, lawless and unruly.

A question posed by a famous politician years ago sums up nicely our eternal choice: "What kind of country do we want to live in?"

While we journey in this world, we certainly don't want to live in a country besieged by screaming foot-stompers and heavy handed governance.

Interesting that, according to Isaiah 3, one indication of a nation that God has entered into judgment against in rejecting his influence on the character of the country is that "...I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable." Isa 3:4-5

Everyone who puts their trust in Jesus to transform their heart, are of the company of those looking for a better country -both now and beyond! While we journey here, the hope in our hearts for "the better place" urges us to improve the place we currently occupy. The self-governing structure of the USA, dependent on people who are committed to goodness and self-improvement, is toward ever improving the conditions under which we all live. To leave the place better than we found it! The call of the childish to raze the USA to the ground, to fundamentally transform it, is like a person who acquires a home and rather than remodel and improve a solid structure with a sound history, completely destroy it and build something new. (A caveat: If the vision and plans for a new home excite the senses and prove inviting, then by all means rebuild! Think Declaration of Independence, a strong vision of a new country complete with listed grievances, solution for resolution and an appeal to the Supreme Judge for the "rectitude of their intentions".)

Except that the people wanting to destroy and rebuild the USA are of such dubious character it makes one wonder who really wants to live there when they are done? Which also makes you realize that history matters, especially the USA's history which has as its focus the character of the founding fathers and the people who helped instill a vision of a "city on a shining hill." By pledging their "lives, fortunes and sacred honor", the founders of the Republic wove into the fabric of the USA the one essential character quality -sacrificial love- that ensured continual commitment to "a more perfect union", i.e., a steady improvement in the conditions for every American citizen.

Which brings us back to the Kingdom of God. The character of its inhabitants is the primary concern of Jesus' work on earth. For no country is worth living in if the people who make it up are self-centered and have no interest in making it a better place by their mutual effort to improve.

The best manifestation of a childlike heart is the loving, trusting effort to put into practice Jesus' words; to obey everything He says to do or not do. The only true way to improve one's character and one's family, community and country!

The hope we have, childlike in its simplicity, is that however far short we are in living Kingdom values here on earth, our efforts to obey and live them will pay off in God's Eternal Kingdom!