THE WIDE BELIEVING EYES OF A CHILD

THE WIDE BELIEVING EYES OF A CHILD

My friend an intellectual and academic, asks me why I profess to be a Christian, knowing that we used to be rabid skeptics during our college days. I gave him a straight, simple answer.

I told him my conversion was providential. One day I said to myself if I were to remain a skeptic, then I had to be honest in my skepticism. So I got down to read Christianity’s Scripture, not with a critical mind, but to know really what it has to say to me. So I came to the saving grace of Christ, not as a learned man, of which I could not perfectly say I am, but as a child.

The most amazing message that Jesus said, struck me, cutting me down to size. The Savior said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Mark 10:15)

Then He continued to say, "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.”(Matthew 18:3). “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”(Matthew 18:4)

I realized I am a sinner, no doubt about it. And the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The best things I will ever attain, or hope to attain, or the best of whatever good I will do or hope to do, cannot impress the Living God, who created everything and  before whom all of us, at the appointed time will stand.

And this is where I part company with some of my friends, who believe that as long as they live good upright and moral lives, as long as their good deeds outweigh the bad, they are right with God.

The problem is no one is good enough. I believe that while there is some innate goodness in man, Scripture declares that man has fallen into sin, and this sin nature, separated him from God. The Bible declares that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.(Romans 3:23) For there is  no one  righteous, not even one.(Romans 3:10).

Even the best of us and the most upright of men cannot stand before the awesome presence of the Almighty God and claim that he deserves to enter God’s Kingdom, or deserves God’s favor, solely upon his own personal merit.  I also realized I cannot approach God on my own terms. Having rejected God at some point in my life,  did not give me any real peace, or joy, at all, but restlessness and turmoil, for I was looking for Him in the wrong places.

I came to the point of understanding that man’s salvation is by grace through faith, not of himself, it is a gift of God, and not of man’s works, so that no one can boast. The gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord (Romans 6:23).

This conviction led me to embrace the Christ, of the Christians. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit. (1 Peter 3:18). This is the living hope of all Christians. Hope that if they die in Christ, they too will live with Him.

Conversion is becoming like a child. Children do not put on airs of pride and arrogance. They do not desire power or authority, they do not make harsh judgments, are free from malice, teachable, trusting, utterly dependent, and weak. A childlike faith is simple, simple enough to understand.

In their book, Wrestling Prayer, Christian authors Eric and Leslie Ludy, aptly said, “So, if you are an intellectual who thinks himself smarter than the Word of God, I hope my unwavering confidence in the Bible doesn't prove a stumbling block but rather an inspiration as you keep reading. For what we are about to enter into is sacred territory that can be apprehended only through the wide, believing eyes of a little child. This divine terrain holds untold blessings in its bosom; however, those blessings will be gleaned only by those who rise up and claim them with the unabashed faith of a five-year-old.”

God Bless you my friend.

BECOMING LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN

BECOMING LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN

A Christian Missionary I know once commented that in the mission field they have no difficulty of sharing the Gospel to ethnic groups or tribes once they have immersed themselves in their way of life and establish communication with them, but they find sharing the Gospel more challenging when they face the intellectuals.

 

This is naturally to be expected. The mind is the battlefield, and the Word of God has been breaking down strongholds of unbelief even among the intellectuals.

It is amazing, said this missionary, that they have no arsenal of human knowledge in dealing with this type of people. They are ordinary men and women  without superior talents or education. They only trusted the pure unadulterated Word of God to open the minds and hearts of the intelligent and the wise. They are amazed of the lives that have been changed by the power of the Gospel of Christ.

Before becoming a Christian I thought only simpletons could embrace Christianity, or even any form of religious conviction. I realized later that the Christian faith can stand honest intellectual inquiry.

The challenge of the modern secular mind, against the Christian faith are not necessarily overwhelming.  It is true that many great minds are steep in unbelief, but many great minds are believers as well. The growth of anti-religious prejudice and atheistic advocacies, spearheaded by academics and intellectuals like Richard Dawkins, and the world famous physicist Stephen Hawking, has been hyped up by the secular media. But the other side of the fence who have come to embrace faith, are full of intellectual giants as well. Intellectuals like C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel, Josh Mcdowell, and Atty. Frank Morison, have become committed Christians. Dr. William Craig and Dr. Norman Geisler have raised the level of intellectual debate, as Christian apologists.

The great Apostle Paul, Christ’s servant of no ordinary intellect, in his exhortation to the Corinthian converts, declared: “Brothers think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”(1 Corinthians 1:26-27) The Apostle further reminds us even today in this wise: “Do not deceive yourselves. If anyone of you thinks he is wise, by the standard of this age, he should become a fool so that he may become wise.”(1 Corinthians 3:18)

What this Saint is saying is, intellectual arrogance darkens the heart, and blinds the mind of spiritual discernment.

If there is one thing the unbelieving intellectual giants of this age need, it is the humility of becoming like a child. This is the first step. A little child accepts everything by faith.   

The words of Jesus Christ still reverberates to this day.

 “And he said, I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  (Matthew 18:3)

Image by:

alumpofclayinafrica.blogspot.com