Have We Lost Our Sense of Wonder? Thursday's Things #35

When we come to church is there anticipation in meeting with God in a fresh, new way?

When we read His Word are we eager to discover new truths, promises, areas of conviction and guidance?

When we discuss sermons, good books or the Bible with friends is our conversation characterized by joy, love and adoration of our Saviour?

When we step outside do we marvel at the creative masterpiece that our Lord has made for us?

OR:
- is it just another Sunday, just another sermon by our same old Pastor?
- is reading His Word just another "checkmark" completed on our list of daily rituals?
- do we stick to "safe" religious topics within our comfort zone?
- do we negate our Creator's handiwork by focusing on the negative aspects of the world around us?

I know I'm guilty of this many times over. 

Have we lost our sense of wonder about Jesus?

I get a Daily Devotional called Living Truth through the mail. A few weeks ago the reading really resonated with me. I'm going to post it here. What are your thoughts on it?

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’.” —Matthew 18:2-3

"We love the innocence of children, their sense of wonder, curiosity, spontaneity and joy. But we too quickly grow out of childhood and are too quick to rebuke the child within ourselves. Yet acquiring the nature of a child is a key principle in entering the kingdom of heaven and living well there.

Children held little status in Jesus’ day, and to this present day, we are still conditioned to believe we should grow out of childlikeness. But Jesus said that greatness in the kingdom of God is dependent on growing into childlikeness. It is with childlike abandon, growing spiritually in trust and dependence upon God that makes for greatness in the kingdom of heaven. Maturity in the Christian life is dependence.

One of the dangers of the Christian church is that it has become too adult, too austere, too regulated, too predictable, too sufficient, whereas greatness in the kingdom of heaven requires leaving those things behind, and going back to childlike humility, joy and fun. We would do well to recapture a life of childlike wonder, but our culture is killing wonder. We dissect and analyze everything. We describe everything so precisely that there’s nothing left for us to have a sense of wonder about. In fact, there has never been so much knowledge as there is today, and it’s doubling every few years, yet we have never experienced such passiveness towards how much we know. A childlike life is also one of risk, but when we stop being childlike we start playing it safe. Our Christian lives are reduced to a comfortable set of beliefs rather than an exciting encounter with God. We end up checking the boxes; ‘Yes, I believe this, this and this’, but know little of an adventurous journey that takes us beyond where God has led us before.

Have we lost our sense of wonder about Jesus? When we come to church is there anticipation in meeting with God in a fresh, new way? In Matthew 13:45, Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like the merchant looking for pearls and when he found one of great value, he sold everything he had, and put it all into buying that pearl. It is symbolic of a willingness to risk everything for one thing, which, in the Christian life, is Jesus Christ."