What a pleasure it is to have devotional thoughts from Vicki Weimer this week! You can learn more about her on the contributor’s page.
My new favorite word is amma, the Icelandic word for grandma. My whole life, I have heard people say that being a grandparent is the best thing ever, and I wholeheartedly concur. I was blessed to be with my daughter and son-in-law in the States just after the birth of their new son and for the first few weeks of his life. Watching them in this new season of their lives has reminded me of some timeless truths, one of which is childlike faith. Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein” (Mark 10:15).
Major religions around the globe teach that people must come to Jesus while still children. In fact, many of those religions teach that a church must perform rites on that child in order for that child to go to heaven. Unfortunately, they misunderstand Jesus’ words. When He said “as a child,” He meant “like a child.” One could reread what Jesus said by adding His own words back in: “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child receives the kingdom of God, he shall not enter therein.” People can trust Jesus at any age, but they need to have childlike faith.
As a teenager in Iceland, my daughter worked with horses, teaching children to ride. As we stood together at the changing table a few weeks ago with her baby boy, she thoughtfully remarked, “You know, a mare can drop a foal in a field, and the newborn horse can walk on its own almost immediately. Human babies will die without parents.” With few exceptions to the rule, she spoke the truth. Unlike horses, tiny people will perish without parents.
As a new grandma, without the physical stress a new mom experiences, I could see my new grandson’s childlike faith in his parents in a different light. I heard him cry for his mom when he was hungry. He trusted her to feed him even without understanding what she provided for him. I observed them make family choices that he neither knew nor could understand but were made on his behalf. When he cried, they felt his angst and tried to help. Regardless of his cries, though, they made decisions based on needs. As a new amma, I watched my little grandson put all his faith in his mom and dad without hesitation.
I think that is what God wants to see in us, that complete, helpless, “I will die without you” kind of faith. Of course, He loves it when people trust Him when they are children. He also loves it when people decide to trust Him as adults, even as grandparents. I think, too, that He loves it when those of us who have already trusted Him as Savior still lean on Him in that childlike way, trusting Him like a newborn trusts his parents.
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