Come to Jesus...

“Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  1 Corinthians 13:8-13

One of the most common qualities of childhood which comes to an adult’s mind is that of innocence. A child look at the world through eyes that accept things as they see them. They take everything literally.

How tragic to lose our innocence. We need to be wise and discerning, but we lose immeasurable wonder and discovery when our innocence is snuffed out by the harshness of others around us, by tragic events or painful experiences. Jesus added a new dimension to childlike innocence when He says, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these”
(Mark 10:14).

As you’ve grown from childhood, have you maintained an innocence in your relationship to God? Can you come to Him with face uplifted, expecting His loving smile? Or are you unable to meet His gaze because you are burdened by guilt, afraid of His condemnation?

Come to Jesus like a little child comes to a parent. Picture that occasion in your mind now as you approach God in a time of prayer and meditation upon His Word. Hold out your arms to Him and say, “Father, lift me up!”

Innocence is not a state of mind, but a believer’s forgiven relationship with God.