One of my favorite stories growing up as a child was “Peter Pan”.  As a boy it appealed to me because of the interesting characters like Captain Hook and the pirates but it also was fascinating because I always wanted to be able to fly like Peter Pan, and just soar above the clouds.  As an adult now with two kids, the story still fascinates me but for different reasons. I love the theme about never growing up, and staying young at heart. Sometimes as adults we lose that as we get older. We lose that spark we once had when we were young. We get stuck in the mundane of life, just going through the motions. I once was alive like Peter Pan, full of life, full of dreams and ambitions. I wasn’t afraid to dare to fly to my Neverland. However, over the years I sadly have to admit, I was settling for what I thought was the real world and eventually the dream to fly to Neverland became foolishness.  Suddenly, pixie dust no longer worked its magic, suddenly, the lost boys I once hung out with were distant and instead of playing in the woods and being free, I began to listen to the naysayers, the pirates, and the dream of walking in the clouds was replaced with both feet securely on the ground. I bought the lie that says it’s safer to live your life in reality and not in the clouds. Life’s challenges and rejections began to wear me down. I started to think of myself as a man who is talented but will never see my dreams come to fruition.  I started to believe that I would never set foot in my Neverland. But thankfully a good friend of mine, reminded me of what I once was. She held up the mirror of scripture and got me to look intently at my own wrinkles. It was a hard pill to swallow. How did I ever let myself grow up? I never thought it would happen to me but it did. I had lost that child like spirit. I was now a pirate. It seemed like I was living the plot line to the Robin Williams movie, “Hook”. Thankfully, God’s Word reminded me the truth that to follow Jesus we must become like little children. Only when we become like little children can we enter the kingdom of God. I’m convinced that the spiritual development of a Christian is the exact opposite from the regular maturation process we experience with our earthly bodies. When we are born into this world, we are dependent on everyone but as we mature, we become less dependent on others and more and more independent so we can become functioning adults. However, in the Christian life, we are told to make it our goal to become like kids. When we are born again spiritually we are adults, full of ourselves, independent, making our own choices but as we grow up in Christ, we should become more and more like children who are humbled, dependent on their Heavenly Father for everything, and trusting Him to make the decisions for our lives. When we get to that place where we are totally relying on God for everything, then I believe we will find ourselves soaring to places only God could ever imagine for our lives.  When we follow Jesus just as a child follows His parents, Jesus will take us on an adventure. You’ll notice in the scriptures there was never a dull moment with Jesus. When Jesus said follow Him, it meant walking on the waves. He wasn’t in the boat playing it safe and secure and even when He was in a boat, He slept during storms. He didn’t let fear or anything in reality stop Him from believing in His reality. He didn’t listen to the naysayers who shouted out to crucify Him and ridiculed Him for claiming to be the King of the Jews. He became a child and believed everything His Father told Him that He was. He stood firmly in His identity from the baptism to the cross and three days later defeated the grave of reality, eventually ascending into the sky, with His two feet touching the clouds. He now looks to us and invites us to come to Him as little kids. He welcomes us like lost boys and gives us a home. He wants us to follow Him into an adventure that He has planned for us. An adventure that can only be experienced when we learn to grow young, and believe. So where do you find yourself?  Stuck and going nowhere with two feet on the ground of reality? Just set your hearts and minds on things above, and you will find yourself leaving the ground for good, soaring towards your Neverland, following His footprints in the clouds.

Matthew 18:2-4 New International Version (NIV)
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.