25At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike.26Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!If you think you are smart, you’re an idiot who doesn’t know God. I’ve been the idiot a lot. Proverbs 3:34 and James 4:6 make it plain: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Maybe in some things its OK to think you know something, but when it comes to life, and God, and love, and mercy – be humble. Admitting I didn’t really have a clue, and I basically sucked at life, was a new beginning with God for me. I’m not going to figure my life out. I am going to need God every step of the way.
Why does God prefer the childlike over the clever and wise? Is that what you would look for if you hired someone? Perhaps you need to be a parent to understand this. When your child is young they admire you and respect you and you can train them. Then they turn into teenagers and they are so sure they can’t learn anything from you because you are a moron. Finally, they get a little older and, if you are blessed, they come back to realizing that you know things about life they couldn’t grasp even if you explained it to them. They become childlike again.
That is where God wants us to get with Him. He doesn’t want us to trust Him because we are told to. He doesn’t want us to believe because that is what our parents did. He is willing to risk the spiritual teenage rebellion so that He can have a maturing relationship with a spiritual adult who wants to learn and explore and love with the awesome parent God is. Don’t be proud, be humble. Beginner’s Online Bible Study *obbs*
Father, humble me.
I think children are the most sincere creatures on earth — they do not fret over things but tell you just what they think, and they love completely….with a whole heart!!! That is what God wants from us…to be loved completely and sincerely. I like your comparison to being a parent, and how children are when they are young and how they tend to come back around to that once they’ve been through the “my parents are morons” stage. We can all love God and others in that childlike way, but we cannot hang onto garbage or walls that have built up!!!