I’m a sort of Jill of all trades, if you will. One of the jobs I’ve had over the years was that of an elementary school teacher. My very first teaching job was in a 2nd Grade class at a small church-run school in Mississippi. Many of our kids were regular churchgoers, but some had hardly darkened the door of a church in their short lives. One of my responsibilities at this school was to organize the Christmas musical. To set the stage for this encounter, let me explain a little bit. It was the Fall of the year and inside the church sanctuary right in front of the altar, lay a large wicker chest. Our church was collecting food for the less fortunate, and this was part of the harvest display.
So, on this particular day my little 2nd Graders, all 10 or 11 of them, were lined up single-file to enter the sanctuary to practice for the Christmas musical. Of course, like any good Christian teacher would, I explained the importance of reverence for God’s House. We must be quiet, not run, keep our hands to ourselves and so on. This is God’s House, after all. As we entered the church that day, a little 7 year old boy in my class taught me a lesson about God that I’ll never forget. When he approached the stage, he looked at that big wicker box and asked me…
Is that where God Lives?
This innocent little boy had heard me explain so diligently that we were entering God’s House. What else was he to think? After explaining to him that God does not live in the box, we continued with our practice and went on our way. Those five words have stayed with me through the years, though.
In pondering what that boy said that day, I have come to realize that we adults do put God in a box. He’s like our childhood friend, Jack; we crank the handle and out He pops when we want Him. We let Him out when it is convenient for us. When times are good, it is easy to let Him out to play. But when the hard times come, why is it that we keep Him in that box? We keep Him out of sight and out of mind. The times when we need Him most are the very times that we shut Him out. All the while, the child inside is screaming for us to LET HIM OUT OF THAT BOX!!!.
I wonder how long it will be before I have the faith of a child? The faith that it takes to let God out of the box…The faith that it takes to give over everything to Him and let Him do as He will…It is a hard thing to let God out. Maybe one day I’ll get there, but I don’t think it will be today.
3And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].
Matthew 18:3
The Amplified Bible
