Day 20 – As a Little Child
(Mar 10:14) But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. (Mar 10:15) Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. (Mar 10:16) And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
Why would the Lord Jesus say that we could not be saved unless we came with the faith of a little child? What are the qualities of a little child that makes this statement so interesting? I think of my own children and what I went through as a parent. Everything my husband and I said to them were words of gold. They did not question it – they just absolutely knew that what we said was the truth. We could have told them the sky was green and they would have believed it. We were their heroes and no one could convince them otherwise. That is the faith of a child.
I also think of how our children never came to us asking for clothing or where their next meal was going to come from. They knew that Mommy and Daddy would take care of them. In fact, it was not even something they thought about. They did not think about tomorrow and what lay in store for them. They trusted (unknowingly) in their hearts that their parents would care for them and take care of all their needs.
If a Ph.D. in Theology came to my child and started a conversation about the comparisons between the Tabernacle of the Old Testament and Jesus Christ, my child would look at him as if he had two heads! 
But tell a child that his little “fib” was actually a lie and God’s Word says that lying is a sin, he will understand that. He will also understand that no one with sin can get into Heaven. When he has reached the age of reasoning, he will know and understand that his lie is a sin and all those who sin will not go to heaven but will go to hell. He will be able to understand that he must ask Jesus to come into his heart and he needs to repent – try not to do those sins again. That can be understood by a child. That is why Jesus said that all must come to Him with the faith of a child. Both my sons received Christ at an early age. My oldest was 6 and my youngest was 9.
Major religions of today complicate the simple plan of salvation and add burdens that are far to weighty for a child and they are wrong. (Mar 9:42) And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. If a young child cannot understand it, then it cannot be what Christ was talking about. Notice in Mark that Jesus said, “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter”! Those are strong words from the Lord Himself! Those words were directed to Pharisees and all religious leaders who thought themselves more learned. We see this in most religions where there is emphasis on the leaders being more spiritual than the followers. If God’s Word cannot be understood by a child, then Jesus is a liar and none of us can be saved. That is utter nonsense when compared to Christ’s words in Mark! The religious leaders who tell you that they know more than you really don’t. They strain at a gnat and swallow a camel! (Matt 23:24) The Word says that we do not need to be taught by them. That is God’s job and He will teach us through His Holy Spirit. (1 Jn 2:27) But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. Is it any wonder that formalized religion does not want you to dig in the Bible for yourself?
Jesus said that we must come to Him with the faith of a child so why would He add countless doctrines to the basic plan of salvation? He wouldn’t. A little child would grow to understand the teachings of his church eventually but he would not understand them all at the moment of salvation. I hope this makes sense to you. You must see that there is nothing more to salvation in Christ then to repent and be saved. All other teachings come afterwards and are not necessary to enter the gates of Heaven.
So back to the faith of a child – Jesus related the salvation experience to that of a child – He wants us to realize that it is not complicated! He has given us the basics in His Word. John 3:3 says we must be born again. When we accept the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are born again – we are saved from eternal damnation. Our old nature dies and our new nature comes alive in Christ through His Holy Spirit! Did I understand all of this when I got saved? Absolutely not! I learned what happened to me as I grew spiritually. But at the time of my salvation, I did what I knew I had to do. I knew I was a horrible sinner in need of a Saviour. I knew that nothing I could possibly do would get me into Heaven. I knew that Jesus Christ is God and He came in the flesh to die for my sins and there was no other way to Heaven but by accepting Him as my Saviour. I knew that I had to repent – to turn away from my sinful ways and accept Jesus as my Saviour. A child can understand this concept. He knows that he has sinned if he told a lie or if he disobeyed his parents. This is an easy thing for a child to understand. The child can also understand that after he asks Jesus into his heart, he will have to stop lying and will have to obey his parents. The simplicity of the Gospel is evident even to a little child. Why do you think Christ used these words in Mark?
In other words, salvation is not blabbing a few words in a prayer and being saved. Unfortunately, there are many people in this world who have done this and they have not changed but are living like the devil just as they were before they blabbed their little prayer. One must repent! Repentance means a turning away from one way of life to another. If the sinner was a thief, he is to steal no more. If he was a compulsive liar, he is to lie no more. If he was living with someone without being married, he would need to leave that situation and be chaste until marriage. True salvation brings about a change according to 2 Cor. 5:17. Some people change faster than others but there will be change. To say otherwise makes God’s Word a lie and we know that God cannot lie (Tit. 1:2b)
God’s Word has been given to us so that even the little child can understand it and accept it. It does not need to be complicated by the weights of formalized religion.
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