We drove the length of the island admiring the brightly painted houses on sticks. Large piles of blown sand and puddles of ocean water covered the two lane road. Dale maneuvered the van slowly forward until we arrived at the end and the undeveloped beach. The parking lot was under a significant amount of sand, so the coke machine in the distance looked a bit out of place. If a hurricane came through there, I don’t know how any of those houses would withstand it. Such beauty, but so perilously lived.

The beach was fabulous. Undeveloped white sand, lots of shells to find, and calm waves. Gabe and Zeke were soon soaked through. I had them roll up their pants at the start, but they figured when near the water, it’s best to jump in.

We had the red bucket with us, and it was soon so heavy from shell collecting, it had to be left behind while we explored further. There were a few other families and their dogs on the beach and one guy fishing.

When we had finished looking on the other side of the island, Dale and the kids raced back. As usual, Josiah heard “race back” and missed “to the bucket.” Josiah raced directly to the opposite beach. Everyone else raced to the bucket. Dale finally beat Josiah in a race. He is certain he can beat him again. He just needs Josiah to run the wrong way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5L-VH46rnQ

“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Mark 10:15 (NIV)

I watched my five-year old son squirm as the doctor listened to his heart. He tried to sit still, but today was his Kindergarten physical, and the stethoscope was cold. I distractedly listened to the doctor, but in the back of my mind I was rehearsing the “why we need vaccinations” speech I would soon be giving to my son. “Your son has a heart murmur,” the doctor said.  These words finally broke through my thoughts. I had heard these same words many years before concerning my eldest son, now a teenager.  At the time, those words had generated panic and fear, but now I received them calmly.

Years ago, after finding a heart murmur in my eldest son, a pediatric cardiologist performed tests on him and declared his murmur innocent. Today, I recalled this experience and replied, “Will my son be tested?” The doctor responded yes and made arrangements for the follow up appointments. After she left the room, I began to explain to my five-year old son that a new doctor would take pictures of his heart. I said, “The doctors and nurses will look at the pictures to check your heart.” He paused and thought on this for a moment and then replied, “Will they see God?”

At first, I didn’t understand what he was asking me.  The question took me completely by surprise. I wondered briefly if he had developed a mature theological understanding of finding the evidence of God in those things God has created. In confusion, I replied, “No, when the doctors and nurses look at the pictures, they will just see the outside, top and bottom of your heart. They won’t see God.” “Yeah,” he responded, “I think He is in the middle.”

The full import of what he said struck me profoundly. He had asked God into his heart, and since he asked God, he fully believed God would be there. My husband and I told him this truth; the Pastor told him this truth; his Sunday School and Preschool teachers told him this truth. So, to his five-year old mind, the doctors and nurses should be able to see God because God is in his heart.

He had received the kingdom of God like a little child, in faith. There is no other way to receive it.  We cannot earn our way into it. We cannot study our way into it. We cannot pray our way into it. There is no other way. We must have faith to believe God sent His Son to die on a cross for our sins and God’s Son, Jesus Christ, rose three days later. We need only to repent, accept Him as Savior, and ask Him to enter our life.

Dear Lord, help me to understand that I cannot earn my salvation. You have given me a free gift. Forgive my sins and create a clean heart in me. Grant me child-like faith to believe You have entered my life and You will never leave me. Live through me so others will see You in me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Application Steps:

Imagine a picture of your own heart and look to see if God is in it. If He is not, ask Him in. If you have asked Him into your heart, consider what evidence others would see of God there. Check this evidence against the attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control).

Reflections:

Have you received the kingdom of God like a little child?

Are you trying to earn your salvation?

Do you believe God is in your heart and He will never leave you?

Power Verses:

Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this is not from yourselves it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (NIV)

Romans 5 1-2, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (NIV)