“I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” (Luke 18:17 NLT)
As a rule, children become products of their environment. The proverbial saying: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” can be said, not only of those who go the wrong way with their life, but those who live good, wholesome, and godly lives. That’s why the adage is true that if someone is going to find the Lord, the probability is they will come to Him by age 18.
That doesn’t mean no one comes to the Lord late in life, but usually, people come to the Lord when there heart is tender, before all the hardships and difficulties of life harden their heart and turn them sour to the things of God. As a rule, it’s much easier to help a child learn of God and develop godly habits and grow into how to walk with Him than to have to change ungodly habits we develop as we age.
Essentially what it means to be a child of God is to see God as our Father and to learn to walk in ways that please and honor Him. How so? By being filled with and bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote in Romans 8:5-6: “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”
What you think about comes about! That’s why it’s so critical as a child of God to read, study, and memorize the Words of God, the Bible. When we’re filled with God’s Spirit, informed by God’s Words, walking faithfully with God’s people, it makes it a whole lot easier to hear God’s voice and follow in God’s steps.
Think about boundaries. Every city has “city limits” or boundaries that define what’s in or a part of that city and what is not. Often there are signs letting you know you’ve entered or left a city or territory. It’s not unlike that in a spiritual realm. There is a realm of God and a realm of the devil. There are places you can allow and encourage your mind to go, and places that for a child of God are off limits.
In much the same way as we teach our child not to talk with strangers or not to accept gifts from someone they don’t know or don’t cross the street without looking both ways and on and on we go, we’ve got to train our mind that there is danger lurking in virtually every avenue of our lives, especially the internet. And here’s the deal – we don’t have to go looking for evil, it will find us.
That’s why it’s critical that we pay attention to our spirit, that still, small voice of God that says: “Be careful! Don’t open that! Listen to Me!” Sometimes that voice will “speak” in our own conscience, but sometimes the Lord will use someone else to convey a message to us. It’s not as important the source from which the voice will come as to know it WILL come if we learn to be sensitive to it.
There are three main “domains” or “realms” through which the Spirit works: our heart, our mind, and our body. Being a child of God demands we allow the Lord’s Spirit to bring peace, harmony, and oneness to each aspect of our being, realizing each has a specific “pull” on our thoughts and behavior.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 