Jesus told his disciples that only those who had faith like a child would enter the Kingdom of Heaven. But what does it mean to have childlike faith?
I was pondering this question as I read the Psalms last week. David as a king was responsible for the governance of his nation. Yet in one of my favorites of his songs, he declared, “Lord, my heart is not proud, my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. Instead I have calmed and quieted myself like a weaned child who no longer cries for his mother’s milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Oh Israel, put your hope in the Lord.”
Childlike sleep?
I was visiting a friend last week while a handyman completed some work. School’s out, so he brought his young son. The little guy was exhausted from a day of hanging out with his dad and playing outside in the summer sun. So my friend brought him a cozy blanket and let him rest on her sofa. Before long, his quiet snores filled the room.
I marveled that he wasn’t bothered by the chaos around him. Dogs barked on the next floor. The sounds of hammers and electric drills permeated the atmosphere, and adults carried on hushed conversations. He never stirred.
He was tired, and he knew his daddy was nearby. So he slept.
Lessons from a weaned child
Holy Spirit nudged me to pay attention and to learn about childlike faith.
David compares his soul to a “weaned child”. A weaned child is one who is no longer dependent on his mother for nourishment but continues to rely on her for protection and comfort. In Biblical times, weaning was an important milestone that usually occurred between 24 and 36 months. In cultures with high infant mortality, a child who reached the age of weaning had a much higher chance of reaching adulthood. So parents often held feasts marking this important occasion, like Abraham and Sarah did for Isaac.
At the same time a child is learning to feed himself, he is learning to navigate the world on his own. By the time he is weaned, he has determined whether the world is a safe place. The child David pictures has secure attachment to his mother. As he explores the world he may leave her physical presence, but he returns to her with confidence that she will be there to comfort and protect him when things go wrong.
Practice makes perfect
When we first become believers we are like newborns. We need constant oversight and sound teaching. Peter admonishes young Christians to seek spiritual milk or teaching that is simple and concrete. But we aren’t supposed to stay there. We are supposed to grow stronger and be able to discern right from wrong on our own by reading Scripture and listening to Holy Spirit. We won’t always get it right, but we learn by practice, just as we did when we were children.
Childlike faith and repentance
Childlike faith leads one to explore his world, knowing he can always return to Abba – his father. He knows he can trust Abba, even when he has messed up badly. David learned this in one of the darkest episodes of his life. He surrendered to greed, lust, and finally murder. And instead of returning to the secure base of his father’s love, he hastily married Bathsheba and pretended nothing was out of the ordinary, hoping no one noticed how soon the baby followed the marriage.
Were it not so horrific, the situation would be laughable. It’s like a child caught with chocolate smearing his face and hands while cherubically declaring “No mama. I didn’t eat your candy. I’ve been right here the whole time.”
But David learned the power of repentance and forgiveness when he quit running from Abba and returned to face the consequences. Years later, David declared with confidence that it was better to fall into God’s hands than human ones.
Childlike faith teaches us to repent and be forgiven rather than to run in shame and disgrace.
Some of us have had negative experiences with authority figures, especially parents. But as we continue to live the Christian life, we learn that he is trustworthy. We learn that it is better to face his discipline than to try to hide our sin. And we learn that he is always waiting, ready to forgive and move on.
I think that David must have written this Psalm during a stressful period of his reign. Being king came with an array of daily decisions that must have weighed on his heart. David was an artist and musician at his core, and the details of kingcraft must have stifled his creativity. Being king came with privileges, but also responsibility. I imagine he must have wanted to leave it all from time to time and return to the peace of the sheep pasture, alone with his harp and his God.
Childlike faith invites us to leave behind the weight of the world for a time, to escape the myriad voices that surround us with decisions and desires, and to rest and renew with God.
Just like the little boy asleep on my friend’s sofa, I need to learn that, for a while, I can turn off all the outside noise and trust that my father is handling the situation, and I am free to rest. He wasn’t afraid his dad would leave him in an unfamiliar place. He trusted that eventually he would wake up and his dad would take him home.
Don’t forget how to be a child
Jesus’ disciples forgot the joys of childhood. They had places to go, and the children who thronged around Jesus weren’t important people like Nicodemus or Jairus. They were just kids who wielded no power, had no financial resources, no political clout. The disciples were hard at work, preparing for the kingdom. It must have stung for Jesus to rebuke them, and to tell them that they needed to be like these children before they could enter the kingdom.
Childlike faith allows Abba to set the agenda.
Most children don’t keep appointment calendars. (I know, some kids today have a busier schedule than a CEO, but that’s for another blog.) They are content to be where their parent is.
Far too often, I try to minister when all Jesus has asked me to do is join him, to take his yoke on my shoulders, walk at his pace, and do what he is doing. I want to learn the rhythm of the kingdom. And that requires a childlike faith. Have you ever noticed that after you spend time around someone, you start to talk like them and act like them?
Childlike faith and looking like Jesus
When my father was alive, people often commented that not only did I look like him, but my mannerisms were like his. We walked at a similar pace, talked with the same accent, and enjoyed many of the same things. I enjoyed being with Dad, and he taught me a lot just by letting me tag along when he was doing the things he did. 
Jesus calls us to do the same. He wants us to love like he does, speak with the same accent, and act like he does.
That’s the best part of acting like a weaned child and to having childlike faith. The more time we spend with Abba, the more we look and act like him.