Be Like Children (Part I)

By Odon Bulamba (11th September 2001)

It is always a joy to meet together so we have to be very grateful to our God who has given us life and protected us. We know that many people on this earth have very little money and some have a lot. When they are sick they spend lots of money to be treated but in the end they lose their life. The life we have is a grace and you cannot buy it with money. People today can buy children but they can’t buy a child’s life, people today buy expensive coffins but their money cannot avoid death when it comes upon them.

Why do I say this? A mans life has stages, and in the book of Ecclesiastes it says everything has its time. If you cry today remember there is a time to laugh, if you are alive today, remember there is a time to die, and if you are here on this earth today remember that your journey will end and you will be somewhere else. We must be careful with the time we have because one day it will finish. When adults today reach 70 or 80 years of age, they are afraid to die and will do anything to fight against old age. They use vitamins to fight off death and they try to make their body look younger but the body won’t accept.

As Christians we must not think about old age. It means that when we reach 80 years of age we must start thinking about death, because death for us is to gain. Jesus gave us a lesson in Matthew 18:1-5:

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him, who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And He called a child unto Himself and said, truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven, whoever then humbles himself as this child he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me”.

One day Jesus was with the children and Jesus’ disciples didn’t want them to be close to Him because they disturbed Him. Jesus asked them, “why are you saying that?” But the disciples kept pushing them away. Jesus called the children to Him and said, “the kingdom of God belongs to them”. A long time ago some of us were children. If Peter was to call Steve a child, Steve will be shocked, and Steve will ask Peter, “why do you call me a child, don’t you know that I am older than you?”

So why do people avoid being called children? If you are compared to children people can think you are stupid like animals because they suppose a child is not clever. But Jesus wants to teach us about children and tells us we must live like them. If we want to be the greatest in the kingdom of God we must be like children. How is a children born? When mum is pregnant she will give birth to a child whether she likes it not, she doesn’t know the exact date but when she feels trouble inside of her, time is close. Some women abuse their husbands when they are giving birth but the child doesn’t care what she says because all it wants is life.

When a child is in his mother’s stomach the child doesn’t cry, but as soon as it enters the world it starts crying. A newborn starts learning new things straight away, for example it feeds from its mother’s breast. Parents who really love their babies are very attentive when teaching them, but when the child is 3 months old and starts crying things can change.

A baby lives in a very different world to us because it lives a life of purity and it does not sin. A baby never tells lies, it never abuses you, and it will never do anything to push you to sin. If you do not understand what is happening in your child’s life you will sin and make a mistake but the child is not pushing you to sin. When a child grows up it forgets what has happened in the past. For example, if I asked Steve how many times his mother put him into the crib, he won’t be able to remember. If I ask Marcia how many times your parents punished you, she won’t be able to remember.

When you discipline your children they always come back to you five minutes later and you will be great friends, but this is one thing us adults don’t do because we haven’t got time to think about it. Jesus said to be great in the kingdom of God you must become like a child. If you are a parent and don’t teach your child the right way you are making a big mistake, and if you are not able to teach your child the necessities of life you risk to ruin it. If you teach your child to lie, he will be a liar because whatever you teach your child at home he will show the world, so why is this? Because the child’s assurance is in their parents.

Example: if you do something wrong to Marika, she will tell her mum because she thinks her mum is the solution to any problem. How many times does God teach us as His children? How many times does He teach us things that are good for our spirits? How many times do we respect the upbringing God gives us? Do we show the world what God teaches us? God taught you what is sin, God taught you obedience and respect, God taught you how to pray, God taught you how to live with others, and God reminded you that one day you will die and be judged but you don’t apply what you have learnt.

So where in the world have you found the upbringing you had? Where is the source of your spiritual upbringing? Are you a Christian who abuses? Are you a Christian who gets easily angered? Are you a Christian who lies? Are you a Christian who confuses people? Are you God’s descendants or not? God doesn’t leave you crying in the crib but He assists you and answers all your needs when you cry out to Him, why? Because he hopes that something will come from you and that is why He continues to give you life, but what do you give God? Do you want God to punish you so that you can come back to Him? God teaches us about forgiveness but how many times do you forgive and forget? How many times do you remember what happened? How many times do you apply what God says?