And He said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3
“How can a man or woman take this course with Christ today? The answer is so simple a child can understand it. Indeed unless we ‘turn and become like children’’ we shall not succeed.
1. We have a study hour. We read and reread the life of Jesus recorded in the Gospels thoughtfully and prayerfully at least an hour a day. We find fresh ways and new translations, so that this reading will never be dull, but always stimulating and inspiring. Thus we walk with Jesus through Galilee by walking with Him through the pages of His earthly history.
2. We make Him our inseparable chum. We try to call Him to mind at least one second of each minute. We do not need to forget other things nor stop our work, but we invite Him to share everything we do or say or think. Hundreds of people have experimented until they have found ways to let Him share every minute that they are awake. In fact, it is no harder to learn this new habit than to learn the touch system in typing, and in time one can win a high percentage of his minutes with as little effort as an expert needs to write a letter.
While these two practices take all our time, yet they do not take it away from any good enterprise. They take Christ into that enterprise and make more result full. They also keep a man’s religion steady. If the temperature of a sick man rises and falls daily the doctor regards him as seriously ill. This is the case with religion. Not spiritual chills and fevers, but an abiding faith which gently presses the will toward Christ all day, is a sign of a healthy religion.
Practicing the presence of God is not on trial. It has already been proven by countless thousands of people. Indeed, the spiritual giants of all ages have known it. Christians who do it today become more fervent and beautiful and are tireless witnesses.”
Frank C. Laubach (1884-1970) in Letters By A Modern Mystic (Feedbooks: 2009) letter entitled, “Christ Is The Only Hope Of The World.”
I enjoyed the better part of an hour in the play area at Chick-Fil-A on Monday evening with my wife and two granddaughters. We played peek-a-boo, watched them climb and slide, and had a blast.
They learned to turn wheels, flip spinners, and navigate tunnels. After gaining confidence, their faces said they wanted to do it again and again.
I pondered how this might relate to God’s kingdom.
God wants us to enter the proverbial play area with Him for an hour a day. If we give Him an hour, we will actually not lose but gain. We will find ourselves enriched and experience joy.
As little Ellie, our one-year-old granddaughter was getting tired, she hugged Jenni like her inseparable chum. It was sweet.
God wants us to spend time with Him, to study and learn. He wants to be our inseparable chum with whom we share everything. We don’t lose when we do this, we gain.
The hour I spend reading and doing my daily office every day is not loss but like time in the play area. To practice the presence of God is to find the fountain of life and joy.