Reason #975
I volunteered to help out at a corndog booth at the fair today. Three hours and probably a hundred or more corndogs later, I was ready to go. My feet were aching and the fryers were getting hot. I've never been a huge fan of corndogs, but after eating one and smelling them for hours, I probably won't have one for at least another year. I suppose that's not a bad thing though. Considering I consumed a turkey leg, a corn dog, a fried s'more and some twisted taters, I probably shouldn't eat for the rest of the weekend.
I used to love go to the fair when I was a child. My dad was able to score free parking and entry since he was a police officer, so we went pretty much every year until I got to junior high. The fair was a magical place, you know. All the lights and sounds and freebies made it a worthwhile adventure in my opinion. I also thought Joyland was a pretty incredible place, too, but when you're small, so is your perspective. And so I was always mesmerized by the fair. I couldn't wait to go and see the shows, spend money on some weird stuff I didn't need, and eat a funnel cake. But then I grew up.
Honestly, I wouldn't go to the fair if I hadn't volunteered to help. As an adult, I think the fair has to be one of the dirtiest and most overpriced places to be. You couldn't pay me to get on one of those rides or play those misleading games for a half dead goldfish or a weird stuffed animal. I know those games are rigged and I'm not about to fork over $50 to attempt to win a 4 foot tall Scooby Doo. The food is good, but I can just feel my waistline growing with each bite. I remind myself that this is a once a year event so I can justify eating all that grease. And I look at the people there and I have to fight off judgmental thoughts. I loose my patience with the crowd, and I can't wait to get home and take a shower to "wash off" the fair. The shows hold about 10 seconds of my interest, and I am usually disappointed because they're much simpler than I expected. The petting zoo is, well decent, but I know what a duck and a goat look like and I have a pretty good idea of what they feel like, too. The truth is, the fair isn't not quite the magical place it used to be. Either I changed or the fair changed, but not everyone sees it that way.
On our way out, we passed by all of the kiddie rides and I watched their little faces light up. I could tell they were having such a fun time. They were quite impressed and mesmerized with all that was going on, and I kind of wished I still felt that way about life sometimes. Aaron said, "You know, I think the fair will be fun when we have kids and bring them. It will be fun to watch them experience it." And I agreed. Kids are so easily impressed, so naive, so innocent and sweet that they don't see the world like grown ups do. When I look at the rides I think, "I wonder if that thing is really going to hold up. And I wonder how many germs are on those handlebars." But kids just run up there and sit down. They aren't skeptical or critical. They didn't hear in the news that one of the rides broke a few days ago. They could care the less about germs and getting their pants dirty. They just see the experience that awaits them. They see the adventure and the thrill that they're about to undergo and that alone compels them into action. Rarely do kids second guess themselves or over analyze their choices. They just make a decision and go with it. Kids don't complicate things.
Jesus praised child like faith. Honestly, that seems like a strange thing to give so much credit to. You think He'd spend more time praising mature believers, right? You think He'd give adults more credit and use them as examples, but He chose children. So then what's the significance of this child like faith? Why does He care about that so much? Why is that so important to Him? Well, think about it from their perspective. Children believe. They keep is simple. They put full faith in the things they hear, and they don't question it. Their hearts aren't calloused and cold because of years of pain and bad choices. They're completely open and vulnerable, wide eyed are mystified. Children have a zeal for life, an authentic excitement. They are dependent, knowing that they can't take care of themselves, and they accept that. Rare is it to find a cynical, pessimistic child. In fact, if anything, that is learned from grown ups. Children turn into big people who learn to be easily offended, judgmental, sarcastic, negative beings who want run from the truth. People who don't want to depend on the Lord because they want things to be done their way and they won't accept anything less. People who lack faith, who've faced tough trials that have created doubt, who have endured more than they probably expected and who can't let go of bitterness and anger. People who stop trusting, who stop living with a zeal, who find life to be more of a burden, and who refuse to believe in a God who made them. Little people turn into big people whose perspectives change with the years, and sometimes those perspectives lead them astray.
So don't overcomplicate it. It's simple. Trust Jesus. Drop your baggage, let go of your past, and stand before Him wide-eyed and mystified. Allow yourself to be amazed by Him, to look upon Him with an awestruck wonder. Depend on Him. Let Him take care of you. Don't question or criticize or overanalyze. Just accept it. Accept His love and His will for your life, and believe what He tells you. Be child like. Stay child like... in your faith that is. You are a child of God, after all, so it's okay to act like one.
#975 - For a God who will leave us wide-eyed and mystified no matter what age we are.
"Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” - Luke 18:16-17
I used to love go to the fair when I was a child. My dad was able to score free parking and entry since he was a police officer, so we went pretty much every year until I got to junior high. The fair was a magical place, you know. All the lights and sounds and freebies made it a worthwhile adventure in my opinion. I also thought Joyland was a pretty incredible place, too, but when you're small, so is your perspective. And so I was always mesmerized by the fair. I couldn't wait to go and see the shows, spend money on some weird stuff I didn't need, and eat a funnel cake. But then I grew up.
Honestly, I wouldn't go to the fair if I hadn't volunteered to help. As an adult, I think the fair has to be one of the dirtiest and most overpriced places to be. You couldn't pay me to get on one of those rides or play those misleading games for a half dead goldfish or a weird stuffed animal. I know those games are rigged and I'm not about to fork over $50 to attempt to win a 4 foot tall Scooby Doo. The food is good, but I can just feel my waistline growing with each bite. I remind myself that this is a once a year event so I can justify eating all that grease. And I look at the people there and I have to fight off judgmental thoughts. I loose my patience with the crowd, and I can't wait to get home and take a shower to "wash off" the fair. The shows hold about 10 seconds of my interest, and I am usually disappointed because they're much simpler than I expected. The petting zoo is, well decent, but I know what a duck and a goat look like and I have a pretty good idea of what they feel like, too. The truth is, the fair isn't not quite the magical place it used to be. Either I changed or the fair changed, but not everyone sees it that way.
On our way out, we passed by all of the kiddie rides and I watched their little faces light up. I could tell they were having such a fun time. They were quite impressed and mesmerized with all that was going on, and I kind of wished I still felt that way about life sometimes. Aaron said, "You know, I think the fair will be fun when we have kids and bring them. It will be fun to watch them experience it." And I agreed. Kids are so easily impressed, so naive, so innocent and sweet that they don't see the world like grown ups do. When I look at the rides I think, "I wonder if that thing is really going to hold up. And I wonder how many germs are on those handlebars." But kids just run up there and sit down. They aren't skeptical or critical. They didn't hear in the news that one of the rides broke a few days ago. They could care the less about germs and getting their pants dirty. They just see the experience that awaits them. They see the adventure and the thrill that they're about to undergo and that alone compels them into action. Rarely do kids second guess themselves or over analyze their choices. They just make a decision and go with it. Kids don't complicate things.
Jesus praised child like faith. Honestly, that seems like a strange thing to give so much credit to. You think He'd spend more time praising mature believers, right? You think He'd give adults more credit and use them as examples, but He chose children. So then what's the significance of this child like faith? Why does He care about that so much? Why is that so important to Him? Well, think about it from their perspective. Children believe. They keep is simple. They put full faith in the things they hear, and they don't question it. Their hearts aren't calloused and cold because of years of pain and bad choices. They're completely open and vulnerable, wide eyed are mystified. Children have a zeal for life, an authentic excitement. They are dependent, knowing that they can't take care of themselves, and they accept that. Rare is it to find a cynical, pessimistic child. In fact, if anything, that is learned from grown ups. Children turn into big people who learn to be easily offended, judgmental, sarcastic, negative beings who want run from the truth. People who don't want to depend on the Lord because they want things to be done their way and they won't accept anything less. People who lack faith, who've faced tough trials that have created doubt, who have endured more than they probably expected and who can't let go of bitterness and anger. People who stop trusting, who stop living with a zeal, who find life to be more of a burden, and who refuse to believe in a God who made them. Little people turn into big people whose perspectives change with the years, and sometimes those perspectives lead them astray.
So don't overcomplicate it. It's simple. Trust Jesus. Drop your baggage, let go of your past, and stand before Him wide-eyed and mystified. Allow yourself to be amazed by Him, to look upon Him with an awestruck wonder. Depend on Him. Let Him take care of you. Don't question or criticize or overanalyze. Just accept it. Accept His love and His will for your life, and believe what He tells you. Be child like. Stay child like... in your faith that is. You are a child of God, after all, so it's okay to act like one.
#975 - For a God who will leave us wide-eyed and mystified no matter what age we are.
"Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” - Luke 18:16-17