Daily Devotional for July 11, 2015

Luke 8:13-17
“But the corrupt tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed, but beat upon his chest in sorrow, exclaiming, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home forgiven! For the proud shall be humbled, but the humble shall be honored.”

One day some mothers brought their babies to him to touch and bless. But the disciples told them to go away.

Then Jesus called the children over to him and said to the disciples, “Let the little children come to me! Never send them away! For the Kingdom of God belongs to men who have hearts as trusting as these little children’s. And anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get within the Kingdom’s gates.”

Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson.  Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO.  All rights reserved.

If you have spent any time at all with children – or if you think back to your own childhood – one of the top ten questions children ask (if not #1) is…”WHY?”  And probably the most common answer adults give is…”Because I said so!”  The interesting thing is that we grown-ups expect this to be enough explanation and justification…and quite often, it IS!

So why is it that when our Heavenly Father says, “Because I said so…” we go…”But wait a minute!  What about XYZ?  You haven’t heard my reasons for why I want to do it this way!  What about what I want to do?!”  We demonstrate little to no faith in God to know what is best for us…and in doing so, we are as good as saying, “Yeah…I know You sent Jesus to supposedly die for my sins and show me how to live for You…but I’m not sure I totally buy it!”

Where is your humility?  Where is your “childlike faith” in an unseen God?  Where is your hope and confidence that all of the things God has promised us are real…true…and available to everyone?  When will we start living like children of the Most High God?  Are you humble enough to be honored and blessed by God…or are you too proud to really receive His forgiveness?  When it comes to faith in Jesus, “older and wiser” doesn’t always compute.  Is your heart as trusting as a little child’s?  Don’t you think you should be?

©2015 Debbie Robus