Be Like Daddy

"But Jesus said, 'Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these'" (Matthew 19:14).

God is continuing to work through the words of my daughter's prayer on me, and to use both of my girls as visual reminders every day of how we are to be like children before Him. He truly is our heavenly Father.

In one of his devotionals, Ken Gire expands upon Christ's teaching the disciples how to pray and specifically notes the simplicity of the Lord's prayer. So basic and unadorned . . . the way a child speaks. In the closing prayer of his devotional, he provides the following illustration:

"Take my small clumsy hands in yours and walk with me, Lord. Lead the way through the dark streets. And help me to keep pace with you so that your will would be done in my life here on earth as it is in heaven."

I got mental picture -- and I don't get them very often -- that struck me to the core. I saw myself as a little girl excitedly trying to match steps with my Daddy, to follow after Him and be just like Him.

It reminded me of the way my girls sometimes do this when they walk beside my husband, eyes looking up and lips curled into big smiles.

I thought of how tender my husband is toward his children's wholehearted desire to be with him and imitate him, and that illustrated so clearly the heart that most pleases God. It is the heart of a believer who sees himself as a child . . . eager to learn, eager to emulate, eager to do anything he sees his father do. Trusting that the best he can be is "just like Daddy."

So many of us, so much of the time have lost that innocence, that sense of wonder toward and dependence on God, our Father. We've let ourselves become self-sufficient adults. Maybe worse than that, we are unruly teenagers who think we know it all!

But we're just kids! We're in training. We have so much yet to learn. There is heaven on earth to be revealed if we are willing to be wide-eyed and recklessly abandoned children of God, rather than stiff and stuffy, frustrated and jaded grown-ups.

I can hear the Toys 'R Us theme song playing in my mind: "I don't wanna grow up . . ." And, you know what? I don't! Do you?

I pray we revel and rejoice in our smallness, for "Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but He is strong!"