What Can You Learn From Children? - Teachable and Trusting

Teachable and Trusting

Jesus next highlights another lesson that adults can learn from children:  "Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a young child will by no means enter into it."  (Mark 10:15)   Children are not only humble; they are teachable.  "They soak up information like sponges," says one mother.

Thus, to inherit God's Kingdom, we must take in and obey the Kingdom message.  (1 Thessalonians 2:13)  Like newborn infants,we must "form a longing for the unadulterated milk belonging to the word, that through it [we] may grow to salvation." (1 Peter 2:2) What, then, if a Bible teaching seems hard to understand?  "Children keep on asking 'Why?' until they find satisfying answers to their questions," observes  one child-care worker.  We do well to imitate their example.  So keep studying .  Talk to experience Christians.  Ask Jehovah for wisdom.  (James 1:5) Doubtless, your prayerful persistence will in time be rewarded. -Matthew 7:7-11.

Some, though, may wonder, 'could not teachable people be easily misled?' Not if they have reliable guidance.  For example, children instinctively turn to their parents for guidance.  "Parents prove that they can be trusted by protecting and providing for their children on a daily basis,"  says one father.  Surely we have similar reasons to trust our heavenly Father, Jehovah.  (James 1:17; 1 John 4:9, 10)  Jehovah gives us unfailing guidance through his written Word.  His holy spirit and organization comfort and support us.  (Matthew 24:45-47; John 14:26)  Drawing on these provisions will keep us safe from spiritual harm. -Psalm 91:1-16. 

Cultivating childlike trust in God also gives us peace of mind.  One Bible scholar observes:  "When we are children we set out on a journey with no means of paying the fare, and with no idea of how to get to our journey's end,m and yet it never enters our heads to doubt that our parents will bring us safely there."  Do we have similar trust in Jehovah as we journey through life? -Isaiah 41:10.

Implicit trust in God helps us to avoid attitudes and actions that could endanger our spirituality. Instead, we have full confidence in Jesus' words  that our heavenly Father knows our deeds and that as long as we seek first the Kingdom and God's righteousness, God will care for us.  This will help us to resist the temptation to focus on material concerns at the expense of spiritual responsibilities. -Matthew 6:19-34.

Next time: What Can You Learn From Children? - "Babes as to Badness"

The Watchtower, 2007