“And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” (1Jo 2:28 AV)
Such precious words! Abide in Him! Not only those words, but the ones that immediately preceded them. Some would take offence at being called a little child. The more spiritually mature we become, the more we welcome those words. John may have penned the words. But the words are from the Holy Spirit. He is absolutely correct. It doesn’t matter when we accepted Christ. It could have been today or decades ago. In the sight of God, we are all little children. That is why the words that follow are so precious. Abide in Him. My mind goes to a time when a child would crawl on my lap for affirmation, comfort, security, or simply knowing me. He or she would relish the time we could sit together. Abiding in Him is not merely a walk of prayer and study. Abiding in Him is a state of existence. When we speak of abiding in our earthly father, this abiding can only go so deep. There are connections. But those connections are limited. This is not so with our heavenly Father. Abiding in Him has a much deeper meaning.
There is no other place like abiding in total security and affirmation. Nothing compares. Maybe that is why John addresses his letter to the little children. As little children, we have many doubts and insecurities. Will we be ok? What is our purpose? Are we really loved? Will our source of strength and comfort make it all ok? We get this idea that we should eventually grow out of our immaturity. Compared to God, how realistic is that? We are all little children. There is still part of us that wants to run to our parents for a word of affirmation. This time of year is a bit rough for those who have lost parents. I still forget that my mom passed away seven years ago. When my wife and I make a project of Christmas cookies, my mind goes back to the Christmas cookie factory that was my Mom’s kitchen the Saturday following Thanksgiving. My mind goes back to the snow-covered trees, the Christmas music, and the arguments over my Mom’s tree and the family tree. I remember many of the traditions my Mom had for the holidays. Canned cranberry sauce that only she would eat. The tradition of New Year’s Eve comes to mind. All these special times that makes me want to call my Mom and reminisce about the times she had with us children. What am I doing? I am living out the little child in me that felt secure and special.
It doesn’t matter how old we get. It doesn’t matter how mature we are. We are all little children. And because we are little children, no matter the age or our experiences of life, we need to abide in Him. Of late, I have apologized to the LORD for being so weak sometimes. But maybe that is not the right thing to do. Perhaps what we need to do is accept our weaknesses and live with them in the light of abiding in Him. What a concept. I know is sounds weak. I know that others will pity us for this need for security and affirmation. This is not weakness. It is honesty and reality. Too bad what others might think. Compared to God, I am a little child. Proud of it! Heaven forbid if we ever outgrew the LORD! Isn’t that what we do with our own parents? We outgrow them. Then we come to the age when we realize that we truly need them. I am heading toward the twilight of my years, and I still miss my parents. I wish they were here. I wish I could make a phone call. Just the sound of their voices would give me security and a sense that I mattered to someone. Praise the LORD, that He excels in meeting this need. So, admit you are a little child and abide in Him. Let Him hug you and tell you that everything will be alright. Because it will.
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