Stooping

Then He called a child to Him and had him stand among them.

“I assure you,” He said, “unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child – this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

And whoever welcomes one child like this in My name welcomes Me.”
– Matthew 18:2-5

The culture around us – including the culture in some of our churches – drives us to be busy.

We unintentionally cave to the demands of the world around us and, as a result, we limit our capacity to truly be present to our spouses and children.

The loss is ours.

Jesus’ call to learn from our children is a call to experience Him – and His world – through wide-open eyes: vulnerable, quick to mourn evil, quick to be in awe and wonder, and to stop everything for a brush with His Kingdom.

When we physically stoop down to engage our children we become their disciples.

It is natural for us to think we need to stay aloof. We are our children’s protectors, their teachers, their disciplinarians. Nature puts us “above” them.

But Jesus’ example is to engage life at the level of those you’ve come to lead.

Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead, He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men.
– Philippians 2:5-7a

By becoming human, God the Son physically stooped. Laughing with us at human things. Marveling at small wonders in His own created world. Mourning with us over things He might have had control over, but chose not to.

Stooping to live with our children is – in truth – a discipleship in two directions.

In one direction we illustrate to them our Divine Father – that, like Him, we make them our priority on their terms. We humble ourselves to live life through their eyes.

In the other direction they teach us to humble the urgency we feel. The urgency which is quietly killing us. Entering their world teaches us to see God’s Kingdom more clearly. Shows us it is right under our noses, all the time. And when the One God is our Father, there is every reason in the world to be His little kid again.

Make a habit of physically getting down at your child’s level. When they are hurting. When they are silly. When they want you to listen. When they ask you to participate in something childish.

That physical movement from being over them – to participating with them – will reveal a perspective close to God’s heart.

When we stoop, we are physically entering His Kingdom in a way which renews our relationship with what truly matters, where His Kingdom truly is, and how to access it.

I assure you: Whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.
– Luke 18:17