"Verily I Say Unto You"

Verily I say to you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall  not enter therein. Mark 10:15

Verily I say to you. Once again we have Jesus using the word verily. Verily or as the NKJ translates it, assuredly I say to you. Jesus is assuring his disciples of something rather important, thus the assurance that His statement is the truth. He uses the word verily to say to them that what He is about to say is a trustworthy statement. "Unless we receive the kingdom as a little child then ...He shall not enter therein."

What does it mean? As a little child. How does a little child receive? Find something cool to hand them and watch and see! After all the kingdom of God is pretty cool! A little child will grab it and run with it. It becomes wholeheartedly 'mine' and is usually accompanied with squeals of delight. There is no hesitation. No weighing the pros and cons. There is no deciding involved. They don't stop and ask themselves. 'Is this really something I want? Do I want all of it? Maybe some of it? Hmmm?" No! They just accept it. Say thanks and use it, play with it. Get attached to it etc.

How does a little child accept God? Same way. If you teach a little child about God they believe that everything He said and does is possible. They don't doubt! They trust that what He says He will do, He will! Here are two examples of what a little child will believe about what it means to belong to the kingdom of God.

And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman's wife. Then she said to her mistress, "If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy." Not an ounce of doubt that God wasn't big enough to take care of Naaman's leprosy. She was quite bold and confident that if he wanted his leprosy taken care of then, go were God is!

How about in John 6:9 when the disciples are panicking about what to do and how to feed the multitude. Along comes a little boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. He offers them up as a solution fully believing, trusting that his lunch will make a difference. He believed that with Jesus it would be enough to meet the need!

Children accept and receive God and all that comes with being apart of the kingdom without putting limitations on the possibilities! After all He is God and He did say he would be our God if we trust in Him. Children receive the kingdom and all that comes with it because they simply believe. They believe that He is God!

Verily I say to you... Accept all the possibilities, the gifts that come with being His child! Grab a hold of them and don't forget... squeal in delight, say thanks, run off, use them, get attached and...