Like a Fish out of Water

"Let the little children come to me. Don't stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to people who are like these children. I tell you the truth, you must accept the kingdom of God as if you were a child, or you will never enter it." Luke 18:16-17

Don't panic, this is not your cue to get back in nappies, start drawing on the walls and go out and throw a wobbly in a supermarket. Not yet anyway. If you want to get in God's Kingdom you have got to stop growing up and start acting like a child.

The thing about Children is that they are completely and utterly dependent on their parents. They don't have any other option for their security. They listen to their instructions (well... most of the time) and they trust beyond doubt. Get the picture? Just like the hand of a son to a dad, so we must place our lives in the guidance of our father.

The other important thing about a child is that they need to know they are loved by the parents, it is in their nature. Youth speaker, Ron Luce describes four broken areas in our life we can find if we don't know we are loved. These are the same areas that psychologists say affect children who do not receive the correct loving nurture from a parent.

Just like a child, if you don’t know you are loved you will:

1. Fail to thrive... you won't grow and mature as you should

2. Be insecure... you will be try to someone you are not or you won't know who you are

3. Display attention seeking behaviour... you may be bold on the outside but scared inside

4. Try to earn approval... you will try to get love by being a success for yourself and others

I wonder if you can relate to any of these things for your own life?

Ron Luce says that the solution for God's children to thrive is to know the love of God for ourselves. He says "If you get close to God, you get close to love, you can't help it. GOD IS LOVE. We are like a fish out of water until we meet the guy who made love."

Fish flap around, gasping for air, trying all sorts of flips and flaps to solve their issues. But what they really need is to be deep in the water, just like we need to be deep in God's love. I pray that today you will stop gasping for approval, writhing for attention and reach out for God's Love. It is right there for you now. You are Completely accepted today. You are Completely empowered today. GOD LOVES YOU.

To become dependent on a Heavenly Father. To know we are loved by a Heavenly Father. Perhaps these are two most childish things we could ever do. And hey, while I am here, fetch me that crayon for the wall...

You can check out some more of Rons thoughts in this clip below (try to endure the american ad at the start!).