20 September 2010 (Shanee/Matzah) Day #188, 5934 AM
Having a Child's Faith
Applying it to Yah'shua's Talmidim
"Then they brought young children to [Yah'shua], that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Yah'shua (Jesus) saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of Elohim. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of Elohim as a little child will by no means enter it.' And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them" (Mark 10:13-16, NKJV).
The other day I was reading about a rather gruesome Japanese Buddhist practice called Sokushinbutsu. In this much admired practice, monks ate only nuts and seeds for three years in order to slowly remove all their body fat, and then bark, roots and a poisonous tea for another three years. Finally, they locked themselves in a stone tomb the size of their bodies until they were dead. Then another three years followed to check if the body was properly mummified before being declared a Buddha and then put on view in a temple.
By this act of self-torture and self-mummification (in which monks opften went insane) it was believed that these dead monks could cast spells and perform healing on the living. This was the monks' way of becoming lords or Buddhistic demi-gods.
What a contrast is the Way into the true Kingdom of Heaven! No tortuous self-mummification required, no Islamic self-detonation, no Catholic self-flagellation, none of the other 'ways' proclaimed by the demon-inspired religions on this planet. The way into the Kingdom of Yahweh is the simple faith of trusting of a little child. What did Yah'shua mean by this declaration that caught His own talmidim (disciples) off guard?
A child doesn't need to understand eveything about how something works, but needs to, in trust, learn from his parents what does work.
Consider the example of using a remote control to open a gate or change the channels on a TV. A child doesn't understand the mechanics or how the circuitry works in either the control unit or the TV, but, in trusting his parents as they teach him, learns that if he does what his parents say ('click this button'), that things will move or changes will happen...that it will work for him.
In the same way we, being as children in faith compared to Yahweh, may at times be called by our Heavenly Father to do some things which don't make a lot of sense to us because we can't fathom the 'whys' and 'hows'. But as we obey, we experience good fruits - we see that what He tells us to, even if it is baffling to us, works.
Let us take another example, what might rightly be called the miracle of forgiveness. It may make little or no sense to us why we are required to forgive those who do bad things to us, but when we trust in Yahweh, we nevertheless move in obedience. And though we are totally ignorant of the processes going on inside us, we do taste the fruits of forgiveness in ourselves, namely shalom (peace), chufshah (freedom) and simcha (joy)! These are both the rewards and evidences of authentic trusting when it comes to the commandment to forgive those who wrong us.
Just as a parent is only able to explain to a very limited degree how a TV or computer works because there is so much that child must learn first that would take years of education, so the same is true for us spiritually. There are often times, as I'm sure you'll agree, when we may ask Yahweh to explain something to us, or to open our understanding about some matter, but which He cannot until He has first led us to, and taught us about, other things first. And only when these other things have been explained to us and we have understand can He then explain the original matter we asked Him about. And the only way we get the answer we wanted to our original question was by doing two things:
- 1. Trusting Him to reveal the emet or truth to us even if it may take many years; and
- 2. Being obedient to His directives in the meantime (even if they make no sense initially) while He maps it all out for us line upon line and precept upon precept.
The only way to enter, and remain, in the Kingdom of Yahweh, our Heavenly Father, is by child-like faith. This involves trusting Him and being obedient even when we don't understand the 'hows' and 'whys', until the good fruit comes. The first of them are not usually slow in coming. And as we grow up in Him, and as He teaches us step by step, so His Hochmah or Wisdom becomes plainer and plainer.
His Ways are not, moreover, remotely like those of the ways of the world which, being under the dominion of Satan, is taught to eat the fruit of the doubting, hit-and-miss way known as the 'Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil'. Yahweh's Way is by way of the Tree of Chayyim or Life, and that Tree can only be eaten by those with the heart of a trusting and obedient child.
If that offends your pride then all that's left is the Tree of Knowledge, and its fruit is death, like a self-mummified Japanese Buddhist monk.
Acknowledgements
[1] Ella Oakman, Faith of a Child (NCP, Gauteng, RSA: 2010)
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