Does the Bible contradict itself?
The gospels tell us to enter God's kingdom you must become like a child...
“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Mt.18:3).
"Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mk.10:15).
But...
When we get to the epistles we find places where we're not to be like children...
"Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature" (1 Cor.14:20).
"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong" (1 Cor.16:13).
What shall we make of this? Should we be like children or shouldn't we?
Well...
When it comes to relating to the Father, we're to be like children...
We must believe Him and trust Him with the simple faith of a child (Mt.19:14).
Yet when it comes to understanding our faith and how to apply it, we're to mature and become adults...
... well-equipped in the message of righteousness, and trained up to distinguish between good and evil (Heb.5:13-14).
So living as a part of God's kingdom really requires both...
We must live in dependence on the Father like a child, AND we must grow in maturity into adulthood.
And boy do we need to develop both of these aspects of our faith today.
Oh how we need to constantly look to the Lord as children, humbly recognizing our need for His help and provision (Mt.7:7-11).
And, how also we need to grow up and mature, so we'd not be led astray by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming (Eph.4:14).
Lord, help us to live as grown-up children.