ARE YOU TOO MATURE FOR THE LORD?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.”
(Matthew 19:14)

MEDITATION:
Who are you and what is your relationship with the Lord? Have you
matured to the point that you are in total control of your life? Do you
set aside time as you see fit for communicating with the Lord? And
when you do, do you spend time telling Him what you want?

How much time do you spend thanking Him for the blessings in your
life? Do you even notice the blessings He has given you, or do you feel
you have earned everything you have been blessed with?

How important to you are your possessions, accomplishments, and
social status? Is your faith influenced by the opinions of others, and
does it change based on which group you are with?

Do you tell others what they should do, but fail to look at your own actions?
    “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s
      eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How
      can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of
      your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
      You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and
      then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s
      eye.”
      (Matthew 7:3-5)

Quite often when we have a high level of contempt or disappointment
in others, it is because they are doing the very things that we do.
    You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment
    on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another,
    you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment
    do the same things.
    (Romans 2:1)

    For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged,
    and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
    (Matthew 7:2)

Why does Jesus say
    “…the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these”
He is talking about the attitudes of little children. What is
the difference between their attitudes and those of adults?

For starters, they are very trusting. They accept the words of the
Bible as truth. They don’t spend time parsing out words so the
scriptures will fit their own desires. They don’t try to find any
contradictions in the scriptures. There attitudes are,
    “God said it, so that’s the way it is”.

They pray prayers that show a deep dependence on the Lord. They don’t
waste a lot of time telling Him everything they have done for Him. They
are more concerned about how He will answer their prayers. They look
forward to spending time with God in prayer.

They genuinely love the Lord and feel safe under His guidance and care.
They enjoy going to His house for worship and praise. They are careful
to thank Him for His blessings (even for pets, toys, etc). They freely tell
others about Him, what He has done, and how He was treated. They share
what they have learned about Him in His Word. They recite scriptures.

Quite a contrast between children and adults, isn’t it? We can become
so caught up in our responsibilities, jobs and personal desires that we
have less and less time for the Lord. We justify our actions by claiming
that we are busy about the things that have to be done. Although it is an
admirable quality to fulfill our responsibilities, we should not allow them
to be a replacement for spending time with the Lord.

For instance, some may say that they have worked hard all week so
they need to rest on the weekends. As a result of this thinking, they
often ‘sleep in’ on Sundays, or spend worship time doing things they
enjoy as a type of ‘release’ from the pressures of a job or running the
house.

However, little children know that Sunday is God’s time. Unfortunately
more children today aren’t learning about God and His desires because
they have parents who profess to be believers, but are attending less
frequently, or dropping out of church altogether. Statistics have shown
that only 17% of professing believers attend worship services on a regular
basis.

In some ways, we hate to see our kids grow up because we know that they
will have less time for us. We also miss how they depend on us on a daily
basis. Now, we can see why the Lord wants us to have the same attitudes
as little children. He wants us to have time for Him and to depend on Him
for our needs.

ACTION:
So, what is your attitude toward Jesus, worship, and prayer? Do you have
the attitude of a little child, or have you developed an ‘adult’ attitude?
When God looks at you, does He see someone who is dependent, or someone
who is independent?

Have you decided that you will not ‘bother’ God about certain things?
Is your line of thinking something like,
    “I know He is so busy with other prayer requests,
      so I’ll take care of this issue on my own”
Is that how a little child approaches prayer, or do they bring everything
to Him?

Reflect back on the days of your own childhood and ask the Lord to
help you re-ignite the fires of your youthful attitudes toward Him. It
doesn’t mean you start shirking your responsibilities, it just means
that you include Him in every facet of your life. When we think of Him,
who He is, what He did for us, and what He offers to us, how can we do
anything less than worship Him?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, forgive me for my independent attitudes.
Remind me to have a childlike attitude of dependence on
You. Restore the passion I had for You when I was a child.
Help me to include You in all that I do, so I can enjoy the
blessings You have for me. Thank You for Your presence,
for Your mercy, for Your grace, for Your blessings, and for
Your salvation. Without You, I am nothing, but with You,
I can be who You want me to be. Thank You, Jesus, for what
You did for all of us, out of a heart full of love for all the ones
our heavenly Father has created.”

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