“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 Cor. 13:11) As I have heard a wiser man than me say, “Children do what feels good, adults devise a plan and stick with it.”
Immaturity of course is what differentiates children from adults, the thought process we have when we are young do not encapsulate the entirety of any given situation, whether it be in our actions or in our words, very little is contemplated before action is taken. As another very wise man once said, “No one faults children for chasing butterflies,” but this my friend is not very profitable when one reaches adulthood. Contrary to popular belief, that stage is not reached when a particular age is attained, as I am sure that you can attest to as well as I can when I witness certain individuals who have passed “that age” many years, sometimes decades ago.
There is a great gulf fixed between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom that is imparted to the children of the Most High who ask for it, they are not even comparable. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” (Prov. 9:10) And this wisdom will never be known by those in whom “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18) Those who are attempting now, and will inevitably conquer this world are following the father of lies, and there are far fewer of them to be sure than you might think, ten in fact are all there are. (Dan. 7:24) But even these ten will be cast aside when the anti-christ steps onto the stage.
Those who are being deceived today are the same as all those that came before them, they are children, they speak, think, and act as small children do, even with the vast knowledge of the world at their fingertips. When one begins to contemplate the Sovereign Lord of all creation, one can no longer look at oneself or the world in the same way, such is the beginning of wisdom, reverential honor and hatred of evil is the fear of the Lord, no man is regarded by Him, (Romans 2:11) and so to believe oneself to be more than the dust that we are, are the thoughts of a childish, immature individual. It is one of the reasons I believe the Lord gave Lucifer every possible chance before he voiced the words recorded for us in Isaiah 14:14.
Love is one of the finest characteristics of a spiritually mature individual, it was grace through faith that saved us, it is love that will bring us to the throne room to be offered as a bride without spot or blemish, it is wisdom that shows us our inadequacies before the Lord, it is love that looks past the dust that we are. It is why I have so many times tried to see into, as it were, Lucifer’s mind at that moment when he first thought that he did not need the Lord God, for, in a sense, it was a fall into childish thoughts. Pride is perhaps, the best example of this, for it says I do not need God, and to believe that one can exist without Him who is the Creator and Sustainer of all that is, (Col. 1:17) is perhaps to think in the most childish and immature way possible.
It is why so many of these letters to you seem to focus on those who claim Christ as Lord, but few, if any fruits of the Spirit are seen in them, why so many religious organizations are mentioned, why you will read “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me,” (Matt. 15:8) so often. Nothing strikes me as more immature than those who believe they are worthy of the kingdom, those who have not been crucified with Christ still believing they will enter in at the narrow gate.
Children take things for granted, if you have ever spoken to a very small child about Jesus it is amazing how they will accept Him without question or reservation, just as the Lord said. (Matt. 18:3) The childlike faith that our Lord said we are to have if we desire to enter into the kingdom of God is the exact thing that brings us in wisdom to spiritual maturity. It is how the Lord works, in ways that just do not seem quite right to us, but this is truth. The people of God do not think, act, or speak like children, but they have been blessed with a childlike faith. Our God is an awesome God, is He not?
