Our world is hungry for genuinely changed people.

-Richard Foster

So my friends Matt and Patty had twin girls today, Lily and Betsy (short for Eliana and Elizabeth). I couldn't hold them because I have a cold, but I loved hearing their little restless squeaky noises, reminding us of their presence.

And I noticed that everyone seemed to mimic the innocence of these babies. With cooing and awing and delicate dispositions, the room seemed to be full of light. It was as if nobody desired to corrupt the girls' presence with adulthood. So we remained upright and modest, insinuating our knowledge of virtues once forgotten.

I haven't seen that many newborn babies in my life, but I'm guessing by the reactions today that newborn babies tend to shed light on the extent of their purity and, more noticeably, the extent of our impurity. And you know that some day Lily and Betsy are going to see things they never should have to see, and experience things that are out of our reach.

However, it is the kindness and the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ who restores our innocence, even into adulthood! Before the Holy Spirit invaded us and made us alive again, we were exiles in a foreign land--slaves to our sin. But because of the fiery desire that thrives in the heart of Jesus, he came as one of us, teaching us to become like little children again (possibly to the point of being a newborn!). No matter how dirty our clothes may look or feel, the water of life that flows from the heart of Jesus washes over every stain, every embellishment, and every discolored patch.

How do I know this? Because I've experienced the healing rain that can only come from the Lord. I, along with every adult on earth, knows what it is like to feel corrupted and impure. Every so often God reminds me that I am to become like a child, depending on him for my every need. It's easier to believe what people say when you're a kid, and I think it's easier to believe what God says when you become a child again.

I got a Jason Upton CD on my 18th birthday, and I distinctly remember listening to this song, and weeping for a really long time over my lost spiritual childhood. It became my prayer ever since...

"I want to know that child again
Maybe time has changed you
But Love remembers when
You called my name and like the wind
I carried you away
It seems like only yesterday
When You were a child "

So many times I just need to let go of my unbelief and let the Lord carry me away. He's trying to restore my innocence, and I just need to let him.