It’s fun to watch a toddler explore the world. This weekend I watched my one-and-a-half-year-old grandson examine the workings of tinker toys, experiment with stacking and unstacking cups, and collect roly polies. His vocabulary is exploding and he loves pointing out “clock” and “trash.” I feel somewhat envious of his life—he gets to just go about his day playing and learning without a care in the world while every need is met. 

Jesus told his disciples, “Unless you turn and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4) He says this in response to the pride He sees in his disciples’ hearts when they ask who the greatest is in the kingdom of heaven. What a natural inclination it is for us to want to be seen as important. But Jesus wanted His followers to think about and imitate the heart of a child—a heart that is innocent, unpretentious, full of wonder and unwavering trust. 

We are called to have childlike faith. But this is different from childish faith. 1 Corinthians 13:11 says, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways.” We need to take on the childlike humility of heart while not being childish in our spiritual maturity! Just as full grown adults move on from Sesame Street and Polly Pockets, we should crave spiritual nourishment and desire to deepen our understanding of the complexities of Scripture. We are called to not be satisfied with milk, but hunger for the solid food of sermons that convict us, spiritual conversations that sharpen us, Bible readings that challenge us. 

John Piper says it well: “We should grow up in our thinking, so that we can grow down in our humility, so that we can have faith like a child.”