Childhood Again
Read Proverbs 3:1-7.
There's a reason Jesus says we should come to him like a child (Matthew 18:3). It's because children trust. They trust their parents to do what is right. They trust their parents to catch them when they jump off the side of the pool. They trust their parents to take care of them (which makes any betrayal of that trust even more horrible).
The amazing thing is that no one has to teach a child to do that. It's something that is natural, rooted in us from our very beginning. What we learn, somewhere along the way, is to not trust. We learn that people will fail us. But we don't know that at the beginning, and so we naturally trust. As children, we trust in the wisdom of our parents.
The call in this brief reading from Proverbs is a call to be a child again. Not to be child-like, but to live like a child of our heavenly Father. To live like one who trusts. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (3:5), Solomon writes. As king, Solomon (the author) would naturally have tended to trust what he thought was right, or what his advisors believed was politically expedient. Today, there is no end to what others think might be politically correct and right. But Solomon, at least early in his reign, knew that all of those voices could and would fail him. He needed a better source to trust. He needed to be a child.
As children, we do not know everything we ought to know about the world. Our understanding is limited. We need our parents to guide, direct and protect us. So it is in relation to our heavenly Father. We don't know all we should know if we were going to be in charge. We don't see the whole picture. We can't see the whole picture. When it comes to God's will, Proverbs calls us to trust in the Lord and trust in his understanding. Trust that he knows best and that he will, as Solomon's father once wrote, "guide us along right paths" (Psalm 23:3).
As children of the heavenly Father, our understanding will fail us. But trusting in him will lead us to a good name. He will lead us to straight paths. He will lead us to peace, prosperity and a healthy life.
There's a reason Jesus says we should come to him like a child (Matthew 18:3). It's because children trust. They trust their parents to do what is right. They trust their parents to catch them when they jump off the side of the pool. They trust their parents to take care of them (which makes any betrayal of that trust even more horrible).
The amazing thing is that no one has to teach a child to do that. It's something that is natural, rooted in us from our very beginning. What we learn, somewhere along the way, is to not trust. We learn that people will fail us. But we don't know that at the beginning, and so we naturally trust. As children, we trust in the wisdom of our parents.
The call in this brief reading from Proverbs is a call to be a child again. Not to be child-like, but to live like a child of our heavenly Father. To live like one who trusts. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (3:5), Solomon writes. As king, Solomon (the author) would naturally have tended to trust what he thought was right, or what his advisors believed was politically expedient. Today, there is no end to what others think might be politically correct and right. But Solomon, at least early in his reign, knew that all of those voices could and would fail him. He needed a better source to trust. He needed to be a child.
As children, we do not know everything we ought to know about the world. Our understanding is limited. We need our parents to guide, direct and protect us. So it is in relation to our heavenly Father. We don't know all we should know if we were going to be in charge. We don't see the whole picture. We can't see the whole picture. When it comes to God's will, Proverbs calls us to trust in the Lord and trust in his understanding. Trust that he knows best and that he will, as Solomon's father once wrote, "guide us along right paths" (Psalm 23:3).
As children of the heavenly Father, our understanding will fail us. But trusting in him will lead us to a good name. He will lead us to straight paths. He will lead us to peace, prosperity and a healthy life.
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