By And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein (Mark 10:13-15).
As children, it is so much easier to believe in and accept things that are presented to us. In fact, if it isn’t real, we will imagine it is.
As a child, I had no doubt that Batman could climb up the side of a skyscraper and win a fight when he was outnumbered ten to one. I had no problem believing that Superman could fly and that bullets would just bounce off of him. On the imagination side- my bicycle became a motorcycle when I put sports cards between the wheel spokes to make it sound like it had an engine. It was too bad I couldn’t imagine how much those cards could have been worth if I had not destroyed them!
As time goes by, our faith and acceptance of things changes drastically. I can remember the day I decided Santa Claus wasn’t real. Looking at our Burnside stove in the living room, I noticed how narrow the stovepipe was. A big man like Santa couldn’t possibly fit through that pipe! All attempts at explaining that away were futile. I was finished with Santa Claus. You know, this rationalization can carry over into our faith in God as well.
Remember all the Bible stories we heard as children. God parted the Red Sea for Moses. David defeated Goliath with a sling and a stone. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. We believed these accounts.
Flash forward to our adult years. We may not face a Red Sea, but we need God to make a way for us. We may not face Goliath, but we all have our own giants. We may not be Lazarus, but we really need hope and dreams resurrected in our lives.
Maybe we should stop studying the stovepipe in order to devise a reason things cannot happen. Maybe we should once again exercise that childlike faith that says, “Anything is possible with God.”
Dave Snyder is an Ordained Bishop with the Church of God – Cleveland, Tennessee. Before entering the ministry on a full-time basis, he was a school teacher. He also coached middle school basketball for eight years.
Dave and his wife, Sara, have two children — Craig and Karen. They also have one ten year old granddaughter — Breanna.
Dave and Sara pastored in West Virginia for thirty-six years. Sara is now retired from the banking industry, and Dave is retired from pastoring. However, Dave currently serves as prison Chaplain for the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Writing essays, articles, and devotionals is a real passion for Dave. He also enjoys playing musical instruments and singing.
by leaps and bounds 