“And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” Matthew 18:3.
Each time I approached the family section at the ballpark, one of my dear friends would get up and leave. At first, I thought it coincidental, but then some of the wives acted strangely. My first thought was I had done something wrong, so I began to ask questions.
When it happened for the third night in a row, I decided to catch up to her and ask if I had offended her in some way. I trotted up the steps and got blocked by the concession line. I meandered my way through but had lost sight of her. I strolled down the ramp looking between the rails to see if I could spot her and finally did. She was entering the family room door.
I followed behind her through the crowd to the entrance.
Once in the family room, I saw her on the floor with my youngest son.
My youngest was one at the time and had not started walking. Him being the baby of three boys, I had no desire for him to start. My friend, on the other hand, had a great desire to help him walk. It was time.
As I gazed through the door, he took one step, stumbled, laughed, and reached for her to retake his hand. Again, and again, he took a step, stumbled, fell, laughed, and got back up.
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together,” Vincent Van Gough.
My son took just one step at a time to reach a goal. Those first few steps didn’t seem as daunting to him as my checklist of goals to attain does me. He kept falling and getting back up to try and succeed at something.
A series of small steps to reach a higher goal.
God asks us to keep that child-like spirit within us. Not just having child-like faith but to have a spirit being teachable.
Willing to listen.
Eagar to learn.
No matter the stumbles and falls.
He wants us to get back up and try again.
One small step at a time.
Not only can one small improvement compound over time, but our eagerness to embrace the learning process takes us to a new level of understanding.
Many times, we want what we want, now! We want to see significant development, growth, or advancement.
When we don’t, we get frustrated and discouraged. We give up.
Let’s be like little children.
Focus on getting just a little bit better.
If you have a goal to know Christ better, read one scripture today.
If you have a goal to get healthier, walk one mile. If you want to learn to speak a different language, choose one program.
If you desire to serve in a more significant way, choose one charity.
It may seem that doing one small thing is too little at first, but the compounding of each one adds up to a huge difference in our faith.
I’ll go first. Will you join me?
Today, I’m choosing one scripture to pray, meditate, live. Matthew 18:3
What small thing are you going to choose to do today?
