Matt 11:25: At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

We’ve heard Jesus speak about children to invite his hearers to be simple and innocent. But in Matt 11, Jesus speaks of children in the context of wisdom and discernment (v 25). He speaks about truths that were hidden from the wise and yet revealed to children.

I am reading a book called “The Four Agreements” where the author invites his readers to be children-like in living out their freedom. According to Don Miguel Ruiz, children are free because they do whatever they want. They are wild. They don’t worry about the future or think about the past, they live the moment and smile and explore the world. They are not afraid to express and receive love.

And then Jesus adds, children with their simplicity and freedom will accept the secrets of the kingdom. The truth of God revealed in Jesus and Jesus in God. The love that expresses itself in incarnation. With our complicated, over-analyzing minds, we may find these things hard to understand and accept. But all we need to do is to be free and wild and let the wild Spirit lead our hearts Just like children.

In these days, with so little we can control and so much to worry about, maybe the best prayer we can lift to God is to help us understand like children, smile like children, play like children, explore like children, love like children and believe like children.

Prayer: Wild, child-like, free Spirit, grant me to be wild and free like You. Amen.