Childlike Faith

So the other day I went to see the new Dreamworks film Rise of the Guardians. It's a movie about 5 guardians of children; Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth fairy, the Sandman, and Jack Frost. These guardians exist to protect the dreams, hope, memories, wonder, and fun in children. In the film there was one child who stuck out particularly to me, Jamie. He believed in the guardians all his life and even had an encounter with them at one point in the film. When everything seemed to be going wrong and all of his friends had stopped believing guess who still had faith? If you said Jamie you'd be right on, his faith in them was what kept the guardians from being defeated and even when his faith began to fail Jack Frost came through for him restoring his faith once again.

Jesus tells us in Luke 18:17, "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." Children are filled with faith and will believe in almost anything a trusted adult tells them. Their belief in people like Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy is proof of this. And when a child believes in something their faith is unwavering so much so that some get in fights over the existence of these figures. Our faith and trust in God should be like that of children, completely unwavering. We should stand up for God and our beliefs just as kids do when their told Santa isn't real. Even when everything around us seems to be falling apart and everyone in the world seems to believe something else we need to be like Jamie and believe, have faith, and stand up for our God and what He has done for us.

In taking another lesson from Jamie we should also let our encounters with Christ strengthen our faith in Him. Each new encounter with our God should serve to grow our relationship with him and solidify our trust. The more time we spend with Christ the better we get to know Him and the closer we are to Him. One encounter with his hero's allowed Jamie to have faith in the toughest of times, how much more will our continuous encounters with Christ keep us in trying times? When the trials of life get us down we must continue to trust in the Lord and just like how Jack came through for Jamie in the end God will always come through for us, its simply our job to have faith.

Children don't need to know how Santa manages to give gifts to every child in one night or how the Tooth Fairy always seems to know when you lost a tooth they just know that it happens. So why as Christians do we feel the need to question the bible? Why do we worry and fret over things like did Adam have a belly button? Or How old is the Earth exactly? Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't answer these questions but I am saying that we shouldn't let them shake our faith in God. We should accept the information and knowledge that God has provided us through His word and the revelation He gives us. God wants us to have faith in Him and that includes having faith in His word. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.", we should apply this to all aspects of life not only when we are asking God for a miracle or blessing but also when it comes to things in this world we may not fully understand. The bible also says in Hebrews 11:6, that "without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." In order to believe in God we must have faith and that faith should be as pure as the faith of a child and trust that the Lord will tell you what you need to know.

In my own personal life I'm starting to find myself moving into a purer and more childlike faith in Christ.  I often find myself wondering how people worry about things like denomination instead of working together to fulfill the work of Christ. I find myself enamored by the beauty of the sky and God's creation. I'm beginning to understand again how easy it is to simply believe. Begin asking God for the faith of a child and the blessings that come with it and see how He grows you. I dare you.