A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day – February 4, 2020
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3)
I recently got the cutest call on the phone from a Christian friend of mine. She said that her five-year-old son, Matthew, came out of the bathroom and made this declaration: “I’ve brushed my teeth real good, I’ve kept my faith in God, and I’ve been delivered from fear.”
When she told me what her son had said, I couldn’t help but laugh. You just don’t expect a five-year-old to make such a bold statement. But the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that what our children say is what they have heard.
When little Matthew heard the Word of God being proclaimed in his home, he boldly repeated what he had heard. And, as a child, he believed it because his parents had said it. Sometimes, we as adults need to learn from the children. Their faith is so simple.
So how do we become as little children? How does a little child act? The answer is quite simple. They imitate their parents. They do what they see their parents do and they say what they hear their parents say. And here is the key. That’s the way we are to be with God the Father.
As Christians, we are children of God (John 1:12). When we accept Jesus, the Son of God, into our hearts and recognize Him as our Lord and Savior, then the Bible tells us that we enter into the family of God as adopted sons (Ephesians 1:4-5). We are born-again believers. We are then subject to our heavenly Father and we are to listen to and obey Him.
When Jesus was here on the earth, He talked about listening and obeying the Father. “I have not spoken on My own authority: but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak” (John 12:49,50).
Jesus himself tells us here that He only said what the Father told him to say. In John 5:19, Jesus said He only did what His Father wanted Him to do, and in John 8:38, Jesus said He only spoke what He saw when He was with His Father.
We as Christians need to speak what the Word of God says. When we pray, we need to pray the Word of God. Too many Christians are out there praying for things to happen in their lives that are totally against God’s will for them. If we want God to hear us when we pray, we must know and pray His will.
Let’s look at what the Bible has to say about it. “This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” 1 John 5:14-15.
Here’s the point. We need to read and meditate on the Word of God and spend quality time with God our Father in prayer. We can’t speak the words of our Heavenly Father if we never listen to Him. We need to be like little five-year-old Matthew. We must hear our Father and speak His words.
