Distracted by the boisterous horse-play of some children, Jesus walked over and lifted into His arms a small dirty boy. The clear evidence of Jesus’ delight in children was transparent in the smile shining down into the giggling face of this little child. Walking over to His interested disciples, He gently placed the boy between Himself and them, and proclaimed something that would change their understanding of the Kingdom of God. The doorway into the kingdom of heaven is through the heart of a child.

Born again! A dismantling of the old and a growing of the new—a softening and remolding, a tearing out and planting. Children are moldable, unlike adults who become less trusting, less willing to change, modal in thinking. A complex network of self-protectionism, reflected in the Pharisee’s unwillingness to accept Christ as the Messiah. Jesus did not fit in to the ideals, traditions, and expectations that had been passed down from their forefathers. Ah, but a little child, willing to embrace the sweet face of Jesus, to sit still on His knee. Little boys could still see the purity of Jesus’ smile and responded with enthusiasm and compassion as only the openness and trustingness of a child can.

Jesus had no intention of insulting His disciples. His message was a longing to reach into that protected part of their heart, a plea to become vulnerable like a child, open, honest and humble.

Before renewed thinking can develop, there must be a willingness to tear down every thought in our minds that does not place Christ in its center. You may be eighty years of age and have spent your entire life separated from God, but if you humble yourself and become like a little child, the Spirit of Truth will be enabled to renew your thinking.