Thought for the Day – 7th March 2013

The Hippopotamus

Conversations with children are always interesting. They can be refreshingly honest and challenging, and of course, sometimes they come out with those little gems of wisdom that just seem to be well beyond what you’d expect from someone so young. Like the deep and meaningful conversation I had with a five year old, just a wee while ago. It began something like this:
“Do you know, – are hippopotamus’s vegetarians?’ (I actually didn’t know, and I wondered how on earth such a profound question could enter the mind of a child! I didn’t realise that she’d been listening to Gayla Peavey, singing, ‘I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!)

I confessed my ignorance of the feeding habits of the hippopotamus, ‘I don’t know pet’. But she wasn’t going to be so easily put off, and she didn’t give up. ‘Well, what is a vegetarian?’ Now, that I did know the answer to. ‘A vegetarian is someone who doesn’t eat meat.’ She was nodding sagely so I thought I was back on safer ground. I decided to stay there. ‘Are you a vegetarian?’ I asked.

Now her expression completely changed and she looked at me with total incredulity. ‘No!’, she said, ‘Im a Christian!’

Now, leaving aside the no doubt profound question of the compatibility between Christianity and vegetarianism, I was amazed by the straightforwardness and simplicity of her little confession of faith, and it made me think of the words of Christ when some mothers brought their little children to him, so that he could bless them, and his disciples perhaps thought that children would be better kept in their place, for they had more important things to do and great teachings to listen to and important doctrines to discuss, and Jesus rebuked them, and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not turn them away, for of such is the kingdom of heaven’

In fact he went further, and told them that unless they to became like little children they couldn’t enter into his kingdom. He said, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” I know a good song about children just like us, and how Jesus will welcome us too. It goes, ‘Jesus loves me! He who died, Heaven’s gate to open wide; He will wash away my sin, Let His little child come in

In fact that’s really all it takes to be a Christian, just a simple child like faith in Christ, just trusting him, as a little child would place their complete trust in a parent. .’