DAILY DEVOTIONAL – December 01, 2020

“A-B-C”

Prayer:  Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.  God help us to remember as we stand in awe of how big You are, that our relationship with You is not complicated at all, but very simple.  It is a relationship of faith and trust.  Especially during the tough times in life, strengthen our faith to trust in you like a little child.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Scripture: Mark 10:14-16

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. ¹⁶ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Devotion – “A-B-C”

As a young man learning to grow up in my faith, I was fortunate enough to have several strong Christian men that I was able to talk to candidly, ask serious questions, bring my struggles to and learn from.  One of those men was my grandfather.  I remember on several occasions the advice my grandfather gave me when I would talk to him about particularly hard and difficult circumstances.  During the times I felt most confused by the challenges I faced, my grandfather would say, “Son, life isn’t all that complicated…we are.”

At the time, my grandfather’s words seemed so enigmatic and so contrary everything I was thinking and feeling, but having had many more years since then to mature in my faith and understanding, I think that was my grandfather’s intention all along.  I think he knew that at the time I wouldn’t really be able to understand his advice until I had time to experience more of life and grow in my faith.

I’m certainly not suggesting I have got it all figured out now, but I think I do understand a lot more of what my grandfather was telling me.

My grandpa was not saying that living in this broken world and as a broken sinful person isn’t hard.  As I am sure you have all experienced equally in your own way, dealing with difficult circumstances we face is hard.  However, as difficult and as complicated as circumstances may seem and may in fact be, the answer and resolution to those circumstances is not hard or complicated – in fact it is quite simple – it’s faith.  Simple trust in God.

There is an old Chasidic story that I think illustrates the kind of faith Jesus calls us to have as adults.  There was a rabbi who became lost in the woods and found himself alone at nightfall without his prayer book.  So, he prayed instead, “Dear God I do not have my prayer book, and I have such a poor memory that I cannot recite the prayers I want to pray by heart. But you know all the prayers, Lord,  so I’ll just recite the letters of the alphabet and You put them together to say the prayers I should be praying.”

Life is hard.  Life can be very complicated.  But the solution for all of our difficult times is very simple; trusting in Christ.  As Jesus said in our Mark text for today, “¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  Our sin, and the sin of all mankind has created a mess of this life and this world.  We all face truly difficult and confusing circumstances in life because of that sin, but much like a child, by faith and trust in God we rely on His power to overcome our hardship and help us endure, and His wisdom to bring resolution to life’s complications in His time and His way.  But no matter how the specifics may play out, God’s answer, the answer to living and experiencing the joy Jesus promised us and that transcends our circumstances, is always a simple one.  Trust, and faith like a child.

It is by faith and trust alone in the blood of Christ that we are not only saved from sin and death and brought into the Kingdom of God, but it is by that same simple faith and trust in Christ that we see the power and wisdom of God’s Kingdom as the hope and relief to our hardships.

The Almighty God who has known us from eternity, and who spared not even His only Son for our salvation, is the God who calls us to childlike faith and trust that He knows the hairs on our head and knows our deepest needs and concerns.  Trust and faith in Him makes life’s most difficult and complicated situations, very simple.

Thanks for joining me for another daily devotional, and remember as always, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow.  Amen.