3 Faith like a child

 

Matt 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.



I have an adult friend with mild learning disabilities. She is also registered deaf. She often finds some thing hard to understand but has an uncanny knack of returning and saying “I spoke to Daddy God and he explained this to me” She then explains what she thinks had been said and is generally correct. She also claims to spend time with God and Jesus especially when she is troubled or confused. Again she brightens up and tells us what they talked about with her.


Jesus Tells us that we need to come with the faith of a child. This Lady has the most simplistic faith I have ever known and yet claims to have a relationship with God most of us could only dream of. At the time Jesus was asked the question as to who would be greatest, his disciples were jostling for position in the Kingdom. Today we often rank the most senior Priests, teachers or evangelists by the power or position they hold, or by how much money they make or how big their churches are. Jesus was uninterested in this type of thing. All he cared about was who would humble themselves before him, love him and learn from him.


Is the Lady I speak of telling the truth or having delusions? None of us could ever say for sure.  Thomas also did not believe when the other disciples told him Jesus had risen from the dead. His doubt did not make the others wrong. So is it possible God can talk to this Lady in this way? All I do know is she believes it to be true and she is always much calmer after spending time with “Daddy God” than she was before and much less confused. The important thing to her is that she believes it. The bigger question to the rest of us is, if God is all powerful, and ever present; why do we struggle to believe her? 

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