Like a Child

I wrote this well over 2 years ago and posted it as a facebook note. It's a story I think of often, especially when I get caught up in the details of man's attempts to explain that which is beyond his comprehension. Also, I miss this little girl like none other, because even though she's only 45 minutes away, school and work suck up every available moment of time I have. It's been several months since we've played together. She's a real gem. Let me show you...

I am writing this in my bed. The dog is asleep on the floor beside me, snoring softly and twitching as she chases some imaginary creature through her dreams. My four-year-old cousin Allie is curled up by my side clutching my bear, Gustav von Teddy. In her other hand is a children's story Bible.

I treasure my time with Allie so much, but I was reminded tonight just how valuable the innocent heart of a child is. The stories she chose to read tonight were about Jesus's birth and the angels telling the shepherds. I never for a second thought when I picked up that book that I would learn something by reading it, but God has a sense of humor (and a way of humbling us when we need it).

True to her 4-year-old nature, she asks a TON of questions.

"What is sin?" (Have you ever tried to explain that to a kid? It's not as easy as it sounds.) Well, sin is when we do something we're not supposed to do. "How come Jesus died? Is he still dead?" He came as a baby, grew up, and then died on a cross for us.... Do you know what a cross is? (She made a cross with her fingers...) "It's like X-men!" ......Sort of. They made a cross shape out of big pieces of wood and then hung Jesus on it to die. But He didn't stay dead! He came back to life three days later! "How could he do that?" Because He was God's son. He was God. That made Him strong enough to beat sin and death (insert blank stare here). 

You know how when you do something wrong at home you get punished? Well, when we do bad things that God doesn't like, we should get punished for it. But Jesus loves us so much that He came and took our punishment for us. "So if he died on the cross then that means we don't have to be on a cross? I don't want you to be on a cross Meghan." (insert breaking heart here as this precious little girl begins to sob.) No sweetheart, Jesus took the punishment for us. "But what if there is another cross someday?" There never, ever has to be another cross. Jesus beat sin. "Oh wow, he won!" Yes monkey. He won. "So if Jesus already took our punishment then does that mean that God doesn't care if we do bad stuff at home?" No, God still wants us to do good things. It just means that if we do bad things and we ask Him to forgive us then He will... Do you understand what forgiveness is?.... Forgiveness is when someone does something mean or bad to you but you decide to not do anything mean back and not to be mad at them.  So if we do something bad and we're sorry for it, we can ask God to forgive us and He will. He won't be mad at us. (Again, freakishly difficult to explain...) "When Austin hits me, I always just hit him back!" (Apparently I'm not getting through...) But that's not what Jesus would want you to do. When He was on the way to the cross, lots of people hit Him and spit on Him and said really mean things to Him. But He didn't hit or yell back.  He just kept going to the cross because He wanted everyone to be able to be forgiven by God, even those people that were hurting Him. "But if Jesus is in heaven with God now then how will anyone ever know him?" If you ask Him to, His Spirit comes to live in your heart. And He gave us the Bible so we could read about Him and learn. You can tell people about Him just like I'm telling you! "Meghan, I'm glad that Jesus won." Me too, sweetheart. 

There is an interesting parallel between Allie and I. Both of us have heard these stories over and over again. Both of us need to be reminded over and over again. She forgets the details of the story; I forget the ending. He won. There never has to be another cross.  I am struck by the selflessness of her love, by her fear that I might have to bear a cross. And I realize, through my theologically shaky explanations of forgiveness and salvation, that I don't really fully understand them myself. I'm still learning too.



"Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it."