Child-Like Faith

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

One of my daughters humbled me this weekend with her child-like faith.
It was sort of a weird conversation...and a bit creepy...but it humbled me nonetheless.

We were riding together on a boat and she was talking about John the Baptist.
She wasn't too interested in the fact that he paved the way for the Messiah. She was interested in how he died.

"Did he really get his head cut off?"

Yes, he really got his head cut off.

"Did they really put his head on a plate?"

Yes, they really put his head on a plate.

"Was his head really a gift to someone?"

Yes, his head was a gift to Herodias from Herod.

"Hmmm....gross. So then did Jesus heal him?"

What? I mean she's got to be joking, right.
The guy's head is on a plate.
How ridiculous to think that Jesus would heal him.
That's got to be one of the craziest questions I've ever heard.
To think...to think that a man's head could be re-attached.
I sort of chuckled on the inside and thought, "Did God heal him? Now that's funny."
What would possess her to think such a thing?

I raised my eyebrows at her. She raised her eyebrows back at me.
"Well, did he? Did Jesus bring John the Baptist back to life?"

Oh man. She's serious. This is not good.
I thought for a while about how to answer her.
The obvious answer is ummm...No. That's ridiculous. Of course, he didn't attach John's head back to his body and heal him.
That would be silly.

But then I realized that my daughter's God was big enough to do that if He wanted.
My God was not big enough.
Her God is not limited by a head on a plate. Why couldn't God do that she wanted to know?
If He's really God then He can do anything, right, Mom?
Right.

I answered slowly, "Yes, God could have brought him back to life. He didn't, but He certainly could have."
She was happy with that answer.
She has no trouble believing that.
A child-like faith.
Why do I have such a hard time believing that?
I'm thankful for the little children in my house that show me what it looks like to believe that God really is big enough to do anything.
Even something as bizarre as bringing back to life a decapitated man.
I mean, that is sort of creepy, isn't it?