Children experience, explore, and let loose. They are always ready for the next adventure, and enthusiastically enjoy life each day until they "drop". Unless there is a disruption in their family life, children are joyful and trusting. They sleep well at night because they have faith in the care and provision of their parents. They love to grow and can't wait until they get "bigger", often trying to imitate their mom or dad or an older sibling. And they love to learn, enthusiastically investigating any new discovery or activity they might observe. That's what's so great about being around young children; we get to live it all over again through their eyes.
What if we applied those same principles to our faith. Do we still love to experience the presence of God, explore our spiritual gifts, or let loose in worship? Are we joyful day to day? Do we really trust our Heavenly Father with everything? Do we want to "grow bigger" in our spiritual walk? Are we enthusiastic in our love for learning more about scripture?
Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:3, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (NIV)"
We simply need to trust in God and follow him, not try to "figure it all out" or do life all by ourselves. In several versions of this verse, the wording is "humble yourself like a little child." Humble..."having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's own importance". If we are humble, we are modest enough to admit that we can't do life all by ourselves. This takes us back to our true identity, a child of God. Let's be that child.
Let me leave you with a few lines from Steven Curtis Chapman's song, "The Great Adventure"; I think it sums up what life can look like if we can regain and maintain our childlike faith and sense of adventure.
"We'll travel long, over mountains so high
We'll go through valleys so low
Still through it all we'll find that
This is the greatest journey that the human heart will ever see
The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams
Saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace
Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other, whoa whoa this is the great adventure"