The greatness of innocence by Gary Rose

I enjoyed this story so much that I just had to share it with you! Kids are the most truthful, innocent of us and it is refreshing to hear their perspective on life.  It takes me back to when I was young (and no- there weren't any dinosaurs, ANYWHERE!!!). 

In a way, being a Christian is like being a "little child". We are to see life through God's eyes- that is, innocently. And that is better than being blinded by sin and corrupted by a sinful lifestyle. For some reason, thoughts from the book of Isaiah came to mind.

Isaiah, Chapter 11 (World English Bible)

  ¹ A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, 
and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit. 

  ² Yahweh’s Spirit will rest on him: 
the spirit of wisdom and understanding, 
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh. 

  ³ His delight will be in the fear of Yahweh. 
He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears; 

  ⁴ but he will judge the poor with righteousness, 
and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. 
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked. 

  ⁵ Righteousness will be the belt of his waist, 
and faithfulness the belt of his waist. 

  ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb, 
and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, 
the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them. (emp. added for vs. 6 GDR)
  ⁷ The cow and the bear will graze. 
Their young ones will lie down together. 
The lion will eat straw like the ox. 

  ⁸ The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, 
and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. 

  ⁹ They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; 
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.

And these verses in turn lead me to the book of Romans...

Romans, Chapter 16 (World English Bible)

 ¹⁷ Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them.  ¹⁸ For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.  ¹⁹ For your obedience has become known to all. I rejoice therefore over you. But I desire to have you wise in that which is good, but innocent in that which is evil. (emp. added vs. 19 GDR) ²⁰ And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. 

In a world full of violence, its nice to think that eventually God will be victorious over evil and that we will be part of that victory. How? By being what God wants us to be; wise to that which is good and innocent to that which is evil.

Today, be the best you can possibly be in regard to good and evil and you will be blessed for it.

Jesus said:

Matthew, Chapter 18 (World English Bible)

 ¹ In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” 
  ² Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them,  ³ and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.   ⁴  Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. (emp. added vs 3b-4, GDR)

And that is the end of this story!!!