Page 68 - BACK TO BETHLEHEM

Even today, many Christians don’t understand what it
means to be childlike. They think it means that we should have
the disposition of a little child but when you read the New
Testament you see that God says, “Stop.” Someone says, “To
be like a child is to have faith like a child.” A child will believe
anything; they’ll believe in Santa Claus.
I have a jar of teeth at home. I told my grandchildren
that there is no tooth fairy. So, they made me the tooth fairy.
Every time they lose a tooth they want three dollars. So, I’ve
got a jar of teeth and I’m getting poor. Some people say, “Have
the faith of a little child.”
Ephesians 4:14&15, “As a result, we are no longer to be
children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by
every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in
deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to
grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ...”
Jesus said to become like a little child but don’t believe like a
little child. A little child is carried about by every wind of
doctrine. We have to be like a child but we can’t believe like
children.
Some say that to be like a child is to be humble like a
child. I had six children. They are not humble. They are very
proud. Every achievement is on my refrigerator. A child is
poster child for pride. 1 Corinthians 3:1, “And I, brethren,
could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh,
as to babes to Christ.” You must become like a child but don’t
believe like that. You must be like a child but don’t be humble
like that.
Someone says, “Maybe it means to be simple and
naïve.” 1 Corinthian 14:20, “Brethren, do not be children in
your thinking; yet in evil be babes, but in your thinking be
mature.” Don’t be children in your understanding. Be like a
child but don’t believe like that and don’t be humble like that
and don’t be childish in your thinking. What did he mean?
We’ve got to be childlike, so maybe we should behave
like children. Matthew 11:16&17, “But to what shall I compare
this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places,
66