Follow Life… A Little Child Can Do It!

There are 613 laws to keep if I want to live in right standing with God… according to the Old Testament!!  And Jesus said, under that system, if I break even one, then I’ve broken them all.  Wow, I don’t know about you, but I’m discouraged before I even get started.  There’s just no way!  But did you know that Jesus radically lowered the difficulty factor for being able to come to Him and walk with Him?  Listen to this, “Except you become like a little child, you cannot even enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt 18:3).  In other words, the Gospel and walking in the fullness of God’s favor is so easy a child can do it.

So why has religion created so many ‘hoops’ and made it so hard to walk with God?  Let’s see if we can dismantle that myth.

Let’s consider: Could a child be saved if they didn’t know the book of Revelation, the seals, the trumpets and the ‘highly touted’ tenets of eschatology?  And could a child be saved if they didn’t know basic Biblical doctrine… or if they don’t even know John 3:16?  I believe the answer is resoundingly, “Yes!”  It boils down to an inner ability to respond to God’s Spirit.  

A child just knows when something feels good and when it doesn’t.  For instance, they know that Grandma’s hugs are good and the boogie man is bad.  So they run to Grandma for hugs… and run from the scary boogie man.  When that basic recognition and response pattern is nurtured correctly, a little child can be taught how to find and walk with God.  Sadly, because of our intellectual and religious environments, we ‘mature’ people tend to lose our childlike ability to recognize the Spirit of God… the Author of Life.  We allow ourselves to be ruled by religious and societal norms, trends and pressures at the expense of listening for the Voice.

So how does this apply in the real world?  Well, let’s consider basic decision making for instance.  Usually, we put our almighty brain to work and make it crank out a data sheet readout of all the pros and cons regarding the possibility in front of us.  But what if the pros and cons balance out?  Then we’re frustrated and unsure of our decision… so we just ‘toss a coin’ and hope for the best.  That scenario is a very poor testament for the believer.  But there is an even greater problem… our brain is not capable of knowing the unknown in the possibility ahead.  This leaves mere mortals with a grave disadvantage when facing life’s decisions.  So how can I know for sure?

Paul said in II Cor 5:7, that we’re to “walk by faith, not by sight”.  When we rely on our human brain alone, we are by definition, walking “by sight”… in other words, by natural means.  But doing it God’s way has to be easy, because remember, a little child has to be able to do it; “Suffer the little children to come unto me…” – Matt 19:14.  That’s where we go back to the little child recognition and response pattern. 

Now, this may seem overly simplistic, but I believe it boils down to the simple way a child knows whether something ‘feels’ good or whether it ‘feels’ bad.  We’re not talking about emotions necessarily… rather, an inner ‘knowing’.  Or in ‘grown-up’ language we may ask, “Does what I’m about to do or what I’ve done, make my heart come alive and feel empowered… or does it weary and diminish me?  If it feels like Grandma’s hugs and adds Life, then do that again… if it feels like boogie man and takes away Life, then don’t do that anymore.  This is easy.  We must learn how to follow Life.

Simple goals:

1) Basic objective: To walk in and embrace things which create inspiration and energize us.  This premise is found in Jn 4:34 where Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of the Father.”  In other words, if we’re doing the “will of our Father” it will strengthen and supply for us. 

2) Conversely: Distance ourselves from things which stress us and wear us down.  This premise is found in Matt 11:28, “Come, all you who labor/heavy laden – I’ll give you rest…”  Evidently, Jesus wants to free us up from yokes and burdens which diminish us and weigh us down.  

So my two-word life motto: Follow Life.

Here are questions to help determine whether something ‘adds life’ or ‘takes away life’.

BEFORE — When considering a thing, and after we’ve stilled our mind and emotions, we ask ourselves:

* Does my heart instantly rise and feel eager for this occasion… or does my heart feel strained and resistant to this occasion?
* Do fresh inspirations come to mind when considering this opportunity… or does my mind get clouded and unresponsive?
* Do I feel peace… or do I feel discouraged and unsettled at the thought of it?
* Do practical situations around me seem to be divinely set up for it… or does it seem like I’ll have to force circumstances to make it happen?
* Do my closest friends and mentors support me in this… or is there caution or resistance expressed from my support group/friends?
* Do I have two or three qualified God-signs pointing this direction… or is this a product of natural and mental sweat or zeal?
* Can I see God’s fingerprint in this venture… or does it look and feel like a ‘man thing’?

AFTER — When evaluating a thing after we’ve ‘been there/done that’, we ask ourselves:

* Did I experience an unusual empowering grace while I was doing this… or did it feel hard or laborious and did I feel like I was ‘sweating’ to get it done?
* Was there an unusual effectiveness and impact in the people’s hearts and lives… or was there an average and ho-hum response?
* In my activities or sharing, was there an unusual flow of thoughts – did it feel like they came from my spirit man… or did it feel difficult to find my thoughts and words — was my mind the primary source of thoughts?
* Did I encounter unexpected divine connections with people and schedules… or was it awkward and hard to meet with the right people and to get things to flow right?
* Were there any ‘signs or wonders’ – outstanding and noteworthy things which follow those who believe… or did it feel like my efforts and words landed with a ‘thud’?
* Did my spouse or team flow in harmony, feel a special grace from God and come home inspired… or was my spouse or team stressed out, find unity difficult and more than glad to get home?
* Is my heart now fuller, in peace, ‘alive’, inspired and in-faith for the next time… or was I glad to get home so I could hide away for a couple days in order to recuperate?

These questions will help us listen to and evaluate our hearts.  The objective:  When we do the personalized and unique will of our Father, it will be our food… it will strengthen us… it will add ‘Life’ to us in every area of living. (Jn 4:34)

Pray with me: Jesus, help me become childlike enough to recognize and enjoy ‘Grandma’s hugs’… and enter and live in the Kingdom!  I want to learn to how to Follow Life.  Amen

— MLH

Advertisement