I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 27th of September, 2024 and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Gospel of Matthew 18:1-4:

”At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven…”

Wow - childlike faith. Imagination, being able to dream! I’ve got two little grandchildren, one’s name is William, and his cousin’s name is Rebecca. William gets on his little bicycle and he rides over to see Rebecca. Rebecca stays in a little house close to us, and William is just over the road. Then they ask Gogo, that’s the Zulu name for granny, if they can make a tea party, and Gogo says “Of course”. So they set out sweets. They’ve got Coca-Cola. They have got every sweet thing you can think of, and then they invite Khulu, that’s me, to come and join them. You talk about a sugar rush! We are eating biscuits, drinking Coca-Cola, eating jelly babies, and it’s all make-believe, and they’re giving us food and drink. But do you know something? When I sit there it brings a tear to my eye. It is so refreshing to see their little imaginations going. They have got a little tea-set. They’ve got to pour the Coca-Cola into the little cups and then you’ve got to drink it and not laugh, you’ve got to be very serious! They are so generous, they keep giving you refills. They are so loving and so innocent but you know folks, they’ve got an imagination. 

Now, just in case we look down on little children, Jesus says, unless we become like them, we’ll never see the Kingdom of Heaven. Have you ever heard of a man by the name of C S Lewis? Of course you have, probably the most famous contemporary Christian writer of all time, but you know C S Lewis wrote a book called, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He wrote another book called, Narnia. Now, unless you’ve got an imagination like my little grandchildren, you’ll never be able to understand that story, and yet it is a best seller. They’ve made movies about those two books, not to mention all the other books. He wasn’t childish. He was an Oxford professor and a Cambridge professor in the English language.

I want to tell you today, let’s keep it simple. Let’s be not childish but let’s be childlike.

Jesus bless you and have a good day.
Goodbye.