I know that I usually think in terms of not being able to keep up with those significantly younger than I am (though I often "kill" myself trying). I realize that it takes longer for my body to heal if I pull a muscle. I find that I am not as flexible as I once was. It bothers me that it takes longer to get some things done that I once thought so much easier.

     I don’t usually consider the fact that I have lost so much of my ability to trust. I don’t want to believe that I have lost the joy of believing in the things that I cannot see. I am reluctant to see the good in those around me; and if I see the good, I wonder about the person’s ulterior motivation. I admit that I don’t like being pessimistic and cynical, but as I have aged I find that I sometimes believe that pessimism and cynicism are reality.

     The former issues in aging I don’t really terribly mind because they are only physical things and they don’t say a lot about my character – what it is that make me the person I am. The latter issues do trouble me though. There are qualities that I wish to reacquire to make a part of me. I want to have the benefits of the aging process – the acquisition of knowledge, the ability to discern between good and bad, the ability to relate and communicate with others, et al. However, are these things demanding too great a price of my person?

     You may have noted that I have not yet used the word "mature" (or any derivative). In each case I have mentioned I have used "aged" or "aging" – there is a reason for that. I believe that it is possible for people to mature while aging, but it is also possible to age without maturing. To age, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is to "become old; to show the effects or the characteristics of increasing age." To mature is to have completed natural growth and development; it is based on slow careful consideration and coming to a final desirable state (of being)."

     It amazes me that people growing under similar circumstances will both age, but we find that one may not ever mature. I am perplexed that many Christians believe that "maturity" moves us beyond the richness of faith and hope to a place of the impoverished awareness of truth. What do I mean by that? Look at the church of Ephesus. Jesus said (through John) in Revelation 2 – "I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance… Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken your first love." That time of the growing awareness of love brings joy into the hearts of those that share it. However, it is amazing that too often love ages without maturing.

     How many of us wish to mature as we grow rather than just grow old? I have a suggestion. Learn to see through the eyes of faith. For many that is difficult because we have forgotten how to see the things that are not visible. Yet, it is only through the eyes of faith that one brought into the Household of God.

     This brings us back to the text in Matthew 19. The disciples were upset because they thought there were more important things to do than play with the children. Their thoughts were on ministering to the adults, converting the religious leaders, healing the broken, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and housing the poor. They were upset because they had important things to do – and they were right. Unfortunately, their richness of faith and hope and settled into the impoverished awareness of truth.

     "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." These words should melt the coldness of our hearts. They should remind us of the joy we still experience when we see an infant or a young child looking expectantly into the eyes of his/her mother/father knowing that there is love, protection, provision, and everything else that child will need. We want that experience to be ours, yet we find that we cannot trust that way because we have seen too much hurt by such trusting faith. Our hearts have become impoverished, yet we want so much to be filled.

     Our Father in heaven has promised the love that we so desperately desire. He has promised that all our needs will be met. One thing that we need is the ability to see the truth of this through the eyes of faith.

     Many wish they could just have that kind of faith. They long for the embrace of unconditional love. However, there are too many hurts. They have seen and experienced the real world, and it isn’t safe. They have seen how people treat one another. They have seen the breaking of trust, the abuse, the abandonment, and resultant devastation.

     "The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Childlike, not childish, is the manner that God wants us to approach Him. Childlike faith brings the reality of trust back into our character. Trust is born out of love – God’s love for us, our responsive love for God in return (cf. 1 John 3-4). When we trust the word of God we recognize that faith and hope still bring joy into our lives because we are given all the assurances we need (cf. Hebrew 11).

     What more needs to be said? There is a difference between childlike faith and childish behavior. Childlike faith brings up in us a desire to please the One that has blessed us with such great love. Childish behavior rebels because it refuses to receive what has been freely offered. This behavior is the response of the one that demands that God act with respect to the expressed need of the individual. There is no trust. There is no obedience. There is no desire to please to One that lavished His love upon us.

     To truly be mature in Christ one must seek to be childlike. We could choose to just become older, but I believe that maturity is what we have been called to. If that is the case then it is important that we see through the eyes of faith so that God may be honored in all of our lives. Let the light of His love dwell in you richly this day and forever.

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