12/28/2017
Are you like a child before God, or are you walking in your own independent self-righteousness? Do you say “I believe” and yet act like you are in control of your life? Maybe you had trusted God with your life once, but have since taken those reins back from Him, and slowly, over time, found you were walking apart from Him. Do you see where you are? Are you uncertain how, and if, you can come home? Well you can.
“And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:2-4 ESV
I was a child in my parent’s home. At 18 years old I had taken on much responsibility, but I was still a child when I walked through their front door. My mother washed my clothes and prepared my meals, and my father put the roof over my head, and provided for most all of my basic needs. I was their child, and yet I was at a time in my life when I wanted desperately to control my own destiny... I wanted to be independent; my own man. Then I went off to college.
I attended the Virginia Military Institute which was a Spartan environment that took every boyish trait in me and systematically reworked it. In a short four years I became self-sufficient and self-reliant, but despite this restructuring I did come home on occasion, and as those visits approached I longed to be back in my parent’s house under their love and care. The moment I walked back through their door I allowed my mother to cook for me, and make up my bed; I let my father give me a ten dollar bill and say “put gas in the car while you are out.” This is a relationship they understood well, and I longed to live again.
When we find ourselves straying away from God we feel like we can handle our own affairs, and the world teaches us its ways. Yet, deep inside we long to be back in His care and presence, and we know with a sense of certainty that this is where we belong. Growing up and becoming independent from our parents is natural and follows a model set in all of nature. Becoming independent from God is not like that... as we ween ourselves from our earthly parents we learn to stand on our own two feet, but it is the nature of faith, and our true relationship with God, that we forever be children before Him.
One thing is very similar in the two relationships I have just described. When I left my parents’ home I was always welcomed back, and when I came home the love and relationship of my youth returned... even if just in part... My mother embraced me, and my father began to provide guidance sustenance for me once again. When I stray away from my relationship with God and then return, He also welcomes me with open arms. The moment I look to Him and call out “Father”, He embraces me, and I know I am home. The difference is that it is unnatural for a man to remain a child in his earthly father’s home forever, but very natural that he always be a child in his Heavenly Father’s house and remain that way through eternity.
I think about the crucifixion and death of Christ. The apostles were lost, and some just wanted to go back home. They were ready to leave the spiritual relationship that they had nurtured with Jesus and return to their own independent lives. As a matter of fact, two left almost immediately and began walking back to Emmaus. They were distraught and were returning to their own self-sufficiency. They were traveling the road home to their earthly families, and the life they understood would be waiting for them there.
When we go through tough times in our lives of faith we are tempted to strap on our sandals, and hit the road to Emmaus too. We are ready to return to a place of comfort that we know awaits us... we want to head home to our earthly families and places we are certain of. Are you walking towards Emmaus right now? Is there dust on your feet, and a feeling of being uncertain or lost in your heart? Well open your eyes and ears... look around you because you are not traveling alone; there is someone on the road with you asking a question... “what is this conversation?”, and it will stop you in your tracks.
“And he said to them, "What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad.”
Luke 24:17 ESV
Jesus knew that the two on this road of spiritual abandonment were heart broken. He knew their feeling of loss and uncertainty, and yet He came for them, and He comes for us too. He gently chided them, and will do the same to us. Can you hear His voice?
“And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?"”
Luke 24:25-26 ESV
As He speaks, He reminds us that what we are going through is necessary, and natural. God’s will is, more times than not, a mystery to us, and it can prove to be a challenge to our faith, but He never abandons us, and if we remain true to Him, we will soon feel the familiar handle of his front door in our hand once again. We will realize that we are home and that He is waiting there with open arms; welcoming us like the children we are. So look about you on the road you are traveling, and let Jesus speak to you, dine with you, pray with you, and then return to Jerusalem where He will be waiting.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the childhood I forever experience in your house. I thank you for allowing me to lean on your strong shoulder when I am suffering and lost, and I thank you for the sustenance you provide my spirit as I dine, famished, at you table. I understand that in the world I must grow and learn to be a man, but I also understand that in my faith and spirituality you are my Father always, and that before you I am eternally a child... dependent on you for all things. Call to me when I wander Lord, and send Jesus to find me when I stray. When I find myself living alone in a spiritual cave, let me hear in my very heart and soul your small still voice that asks what I am doing there, and then instructs me in the way home. Speak your will to me Holy Father, and lift me to my feet as I go about obeying it. I praise you Father for your unwavering love and faithfulness, and I sing in joy about the home that awaits me in your kingdom. You are my strength, my provision, my love, and joy forever! In your house I am your child, and humble before you. I worship you Father for never abandoning me on my sad roads, and for coming, in mercy and grace, for me always.
Rich Forbes