Forever Young

I must admit that I am a big kid sometimes. There is still a place in my heart that loves to joke around, roughhouse, and play like there is no tomorrow. But as I have gotten older I have found less and less time for my “inner child” and have found myself entrenched with the daily grind that faces us all. The fun loving, simple minded, innocent side of me seems to get pushed into the background of life until he seems like a distant memory. Society always pushing us to work more, try harder, and climb more of the mountains of this life.

And although working hard and being disciplined is an essential part of life, there is something to be said about keeping ourselves young at heart. What is it to be young at heart you ask? I believe being young at heart is holding fast to the purity and innocence that God gave us at birth. Holding fast to the trusting, playful, loving, and humble spirit that you see in the eyes of a young child is essential.

We read in the book of Mark 10:14 the words of Jesus to the disciples saying “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”  What I believe Jesus was saying hear is be don’t let the world make your heart old. Don’t let the chase for money, the rat race up the corporate ladder, or the bitter experiences of life to steal from us the God given deposit of a youthful spirit. A heart the believes in the goodness found in the hearts of others, and more importantly, the goodness found in the Heart of God.

It is amazing how hard we try to cling to our physical youth. As a nation we spend billions of dollars every year on facial crèmes, tummy tucks, botox, lipo suction, hair dye, skin peals, and anything and everything else we can think of to cling to our youthful appearance on the outside. But I want to challenge you to work on keeping your heart young. Let’s challenge ourselves today to get back to the pure and simple things of life. The wisdom of our world’s youngest passengers is sometimes the most profound. It tells us to enjoy the moment, have fun as much as possible, and keep our relationships with our friends, family, and God our Father, as the most important things in the world.