Missing - My Energy (Mk 9:33 - 41)

Ever wondered where all that energy you had as a child and a young person vanished? Is it just the effect of our body aging or is it our mind that is aging must faster? Or is it the cares of this world and the running behind things unnecessary that makes us lose our energy so fast?

These were the questions running through my mind even as i spent the weekend suffering from my usual breathlessness and palpitations. The answer to which, i'm reminded from this portion of scripture is simple - It is the child like spirit that finds life's golden gates and that finds them all ajar; teeming with energy even as the will to learn and explore keeps them prancing around. So lost is a child in their own world that nothing else matters except having fun. You might argue at this point that a child doesn't have much responsibility. But also is true that the Lord asks us to be like a child (Mk 10:15).

The Lord never taught us to back away from responsibility. As we grow up (even in Him), we are expected to take on more responsibility and stand strong. But were these charges to us meant to steal us of joy is the question? I think not!

Paul in reminiscence says that he put away childishness as he grew up (1 Cor. 13:11) and even urges the Corinthians to grow up in the Lord and stand up to the duties given to them as God's people (1 Cor. 3:2). Yet in all that, his attitude towards the good Lord was that of a child. This is something that can be observed all through his writings as he constantly talks about keeping faith, trust and hope in God alone. But perhaps the most important of all characteristics that Paul wanted to assert through his life was the simple dependence on God's mercy - for nothing else can lead us into and even keep us in the Kingdom. Because actual dependence on God comes only from first trusting Him completely; as a child does their parent.

So when the Lord asks us to be as a child - its for our own reckoning. "Come unto Me all ye who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of me; for i am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Mt 11: 28-30). The reason for that instruction then becomes simple - that we would continue to enjoy life (with Him, in Him and through Him) always; even as a child does!

So if you find yourself without energy or saying, "Lord, i'm tired," you should probably ask the question - am i growing away from childlikeness?